Detroit Lions announce Sam Martin will return to practice

After spending training camp and the early portion of the season on the NFI list, Detroit Lions punter Sam Martin is returning to practice.

The Detroit Lions found themselves a weapon in punter Sam Martin. Through four NFL seasons, he had established himself as one of the very best in the game. He was going to be one of the team’s dependable pieces heading into 2017 but an offseason injury landed him on the Non-Football Injury list.

As that carried into the regular season, Martin was forced to miss at least the first six weeks. Now that six weeks have passed, the Lions announced this morning that Martin will return to practice. Per NFL rules, that starts another clock. Martin can now practice for up to three weeks before either being activated to the 53-man roster or be placed on injured reserve.

There has been no indication that Martin’s injury threatened to cost him the entire season and starting his practice window as soon as was possible by NFI rules is certainly a good sign. However, it remains to be seen if Martin will be activated for the team’s next game against the Pittsburgh Steelers in week eight. The Lions will have their bye in week seven.

Having Martin on the sideline has been a loss but the Lions have come out just fine while waiting for Martin’s return. Kasey Redfern had a good training camp and booted a 50-yard punt before being lost for the season with a knee injury after attempting to run after bobbling a snap. Then came Jeff Locke, how has held down punting duties since. Locke’s net punting average of 42.2 yards per punt places him in the top ten through week six.

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Getting Martin back is good news but left tackle Taylor Decker is the player they most desperately need to return. Decker is in a similar situation to Martin after being put on the PUP list after shoulder surgery but there has been no update from the team on his potential return.