Ahead of their Week 5 road matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals, the Detroit Lions made a slight change to their practice squad, bringing back a familiar face on the defensive side of the ball.
On Tuesday, Detroit announced that it signed veteran linebacker Ty Summers to the practice squad. To make room for Summers, the Lions released wide receiver Ronnie Bell. Summers, who began his NFL career with the Green Bay Packers, spent a couple of weeks in the Motor City during the 2024 preseason.
The veteran defender appeared in two games with the Lions last summer, where he had 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, and a sack. Despite his performance, Detroit parted ways with Summers at the end of the preseason.
Lions Sign Veteran Linebacker Ty Summers to Practice Squad in Week 5
Summers eventually joined the New York Giants’ practice squad a couple of days after being released by the Lions. The Giants called up the veteran defender multiple times from the taxi squad before officially signing him to the active roster.
The 6-foot-1, 241-pound linebacker played 16 games (two starts) last season, spending most of his time on special teams (272 snaps), but he also saw some snaps on defense (112). Summers had 29 combined tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass deflection.
It was his best season as a pro since the 2020 season with the Packers, where Summers had 39 combined tackles and a pass deflection.
A linebacker signing was not on the bingo card for most Lions fans, given the recent rash of injuries at the cornerback spot with Terrion Arnold and D.J. Reed. Arnold’s shoulder injury isn’t considered as serious as Reed’s hamstring injury, which will keep him sidelined for a significant amount of time.
However, the Lions could sign a free agent cornerback sometime over the next day or so to the 53-man roster, since they have an open spot due to safety Daniel Thomas being placed on injured reserve.
Meanwhile, the Lions' linebacker unit is set from a depth standpoint. But it doesn’t hurt to have an additional reinforcement on the practice squad, whom you can call up in case of an injury. The Lions were in this spot last week, as veteran Zach Cunningham missed last week’s game with a hamstring injury.
If Cunningham were to miss this week’s game, for example, Detroit could use one of Summers’ practice elevations for gameday.