Ansah, Levy active vs. Giants

Lions DE Ezekiel Ansah (shoulder) and OLB DeAndre Levy (knee) are active for today's game against the Giants. Having them in the lineup certainly helps the defense overall, but neither looks like a good IDP choice. Ansah is still chasing his 1st sack of the season, and the Giants have yielded the 5th lowest sack rate to date. Levy has returned to a part-time role after missing most of the year.

The Lions re-signed LB Alex Anzalone this offseason and opened spring workouts with him and 2nd-year LB Derrick Barnes as starters. LBs coach Kelvin Sheppard says no one's job is "safe," though. "[Anzalone] has the most time-on-task in my room, but that doesn't designate him the starter," Sheppard tells PrideofDetroit.com. "The things we did last year are not acceptable ... so don't tell me about what a guy did last year." Detroit also added Chris Board and 6th-round rookie Malcolm Rodriguez, brought back former Lion (and 1-year Jet) Jarrad Davis, and got Shaun Dion Hamilton back from a full year spent on IR. In the same interview, Sheppard had praise for Barnes ("The sky's the limit for him."), Board ("He has a unique skill set."), Anthony Pittman ("putting on a clinic so far") and Rodriguez ("It's arrows up on him."). Sheppard added that Rodriguez has already showed the potential to call the defensive plays, which would mean wearing the green dot and likely staying on the field 3 downs. The whole situation will need to play out in camp and preseason, and we're not ready to invest in any of them. Barnes and Rodriguez look most intriguing as dynasty stashes and late-round dart throws in IDP fantasy football leagues.

Lions LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin (shoulder) and DL Michael Brockers (neck) are active for today's game against the Packers. Each guy entered the day questionable.

Lions LB Jalen Reeves-Maybin (shoulder) and DL Michael Brockers (knee) are active for today's game against the Falcons.

The Lions have ruled EDGE Trey Flowers (knee) and CB A.J. Parker (ankle) out for Thursday's game against the Bears. DL Michael Brockers (knee) is questionable after being limited in practice the past 2 days.

The Lions have ruled EDGE Trey Flowers (knee) out for Sunday's game against the Browns. S Tracy Walker (concussion) is questionable. We'll check his status Sunday.