{"id":163595,"date":"2025-06-27T21:43:21","date_gmt":"2025-06-27T21:43:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/163595\/"},"modified":"2025-06-27T21:43:21","modified_gmt":"2025-06-27T21:43:21","slug":"lions-vs-commanders-injury-report-david-montgomery-returns-to-practice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/163595\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions vs. Commanders injury report: David Montgomery returns to practice"},"content":{"rendered":"

The No. 1 seeded Detroit Lions<\/a> will host the No. 6 seed Washington Commanders<\/a> in the Divisional Round of the 2024-25 NFL playoffs<\/a>, which will be played on Saturday night. <\/p>\n

While the Lions received a bye week during the Wild Card round of the playoffs, they did get in a few practices before allowing their players some extra time to rest and recover<\/a> from a long season. Despite the extra time off, the Lions did not find out that they would be facing the Commanders until late Sunday night, and with the game being on Saturday, it sets up a bit of a shortened week.<\/p>\n

Because the Lions have one less day than in a traditional week, their schedule moves up a day, meaning their initial injury report is due on Tuesday instead of the typical Wednesday. With Tuesday traditionally being a player’s day off, the Lions elected to hold a walkthrough practice to start the week. That means the participation levels for this opening practice are only estimations based on what the coaching staff projects each player to have been capable of producing, had this been a full practice. <\/p>\n

With that in mind, let\u2019s take a look at Tuesday\u2019s injury report and get you up to date with what we know. Note that any changes from last week\u2019s report will be bolded.<\/p>\n

Injured reserve updates<\/p>\n

The Lions started Rakestraw\u2019s clock last Thursday during the final practice of their bye week. Rakestraw is expected to be able to return to the active roster soon and provide the Lions secondary with some much-needed depth. Over the break, Lions coach Dan Campbell updated the media on the status of cornerback Carlton Davis and linebacker Derrick Barnes, noting that neither will be recovered in time to return for the playoffs.<\/p>\n

No practice <\/p>\n

RG Kevin Zeitler (hamstring) \u2014 Injured in Week 18
\nDL Pat O\u2019Connor (calf) \u2014 Injured in Week 18<\/p>\n

CB Ennis Rakestraw (hamstring\/illness) \u2014 Injury clock<\/a> days remaining: 15<\/p>\n

Zeitler was injured near the end of the Lions\u2019 Week 18 game against the Vikings, missing the final series of the contest. Last Tuesday, Lions coach Dan Campbell suggested that the news surrounding Zeitler was positive, but stopped short of suggesting he was expecting him to play this week. <\/p>\n

While Zeitler is estimated to have missed practice on Tuesday, there\u2019s still a chance he will play in this upcoming matchup with the Commanders. If he is unable to go, rookie Christian Mahogany filled in as a replacement in Week 18 and would be expected to start at right guard against the Commanders.<\/p>\n

O\u2019Connor did not get a vote of confidence from Campbell following Week 18, so his absence is not at all surprising. The only real question will be: is his calf injury recoverable or is he likely headed to injured reserve?<\/p>\n

Rakestraw returned to practice last week and appears to have missed Tuesday\u2019s walkthrough with an illness (which was added to his designations on this report). It\u2019s possible he returns as soon as tomorrow, or he could miss some time, as illnesses are unpredictable and we have seen both outcomes over the past month.<\/p>\n

Limited practice<\/p>\n

Full practice<\/p>\n

RB David Montgomery (knee) \u2014 returned to practice
\nCB Terrion Arnold (foot) \u2014 Injured in Week 18<\/p>\n

As anticipated, Montgomery returned to practice on Tuesday and is expected to play this Saturday.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019ll mean a lot,\u201d Campbell said of Montgomery\u2019s return this week. \u201c(Montgomery)\u2019s a big part of us, he\u2019s a huge part of us, and to me, he\u2019s a bell cow, he\u2019s a tone-setter, he\u2019s a catalyst, so there\u2019s a place for him. There\u2019s a place for him here, so there\u2019ll be a place for him in this game. So, it\u2019s going to be good to get him back.\u201d<\/p>\n

Running back Jahmyr Gibbs has performed masterfully in Montgomery\u2019s absence, but when the duo run together they\u2019re incredibly difficult to contain.<\/p>\n

Arnold exited the field in Week 18 on a trainer\u2019s cart, and was seen in a walking boot following the game, but was in high spirits as the initial medical results were positive. With an estimated full practice to start the week, things are indeed looking up for the Lions’ first-round rookie and he\u2019ll have a legitimate chance to start in the playoffs.<\/p>\n

No longer listed on the injury report<\/p>\n

WR Kalif Raymond (hamstring)
\nLB Alex Anzalone (forearm)
\nLB Jack Campbell (rib)
\nCB Amik Robertson (calf)<\/p>\n

The players in this section no longer require a spot on the injury list.<\/p>\n

Commanders’ initial injury report<\/p>\n

Starters are bolded<\/p>\n

No practice: <\/p>\n

WR Jamison Crowder (hamstring\/rest)<\/p>\n

TE Zach Ertz (rest)
\nDE Clelin Ferrell (knee\/rest)
\nOLB Dante Fowler Jr. (rest)
\nLB Jordan Magee (hamstring)
\nLB Bobby Wagner (ankle) <\/p>\n

Limited: <\/p>\n

K Zane Gonzalez (hip)
\nDT Daron Payne (finger)
\nTE Ben Sinnott (shoulder) <\/p>\n

Full: <\/p>\n

TE Colson Yankoff (hamstring, on IR)
\nTE John Bates (shoulder)
\nLB Dominique Hampton (back)
\nLB Frankie Luvu (shoulder)
\nCB Marshon Lattimore (hamstring) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The No. 1 seeded Detroit Lions will host the No. 6 seed Washington Commanders in the Divisional Round…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":163596,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2069],"tags":[427,6194,146,13944,153,7,29,3144,147,14349,6,84,152,9735,151,1150,19986,528,3084,855,111,2480],"class_list":{"0":"post-163595","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-washington-commanders","8":"tag-commanders","9":"tag-david","10":"tag-detroit","11":"tag-detroit-lions-injury-report","12":"tag-detroit-lions-news","13":"tag-football","14":"tag-front-page","15":"tag-injury","16":"tag-lions","17":"tag-montgomery","18":"tag-nfl","19":"tag-nfl-playoffs","20":"tag-of","21":"tag-practice","22":"tag-pride","23":"tag-report","24":"tag-returns","25":"tag-to","26":"tag-vs","27":"tag-washington","28":"tag-washington-commanders","29":"tag-washingtoncommanders"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/114757514299797940","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163595","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=163595"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/163595\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/163596"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=163595"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=163595"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=163595"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}