The Detroit Lions were hit hard by the injury bug at the cornerback spot in their Week 4 win against the Cleveland Browns last Sunday. The Lions saw Terrion Arnold suffer a shoulder injury, while D.J. Reed got carted off the field with a hamstring injury.
Between the two DBs, Reed’s injury will keep him off the field for a while, so the Lions need a reinforcement on the 53-man roster or practice squad for the foreseeable future. On Tuesday night, Aaron Wilson of KPRC-2 reported that Detroit is signing veteran cornerback Tre Flowers to its practice squad.
The 30-year-old Flowers was most recently with the Chicago Bears, who released him earlier this month. Now, the veteran defensive back will look to provide Detroit with some depth at the CB position.
Lions Reportedly Add Former Bears CB Tre Flowers to Practice Squad
When some Lions fans caught wind of Wilson’s report, they immediately thought of former Detroit pass rusher Trey Flowers, who was a free-agent bust in his three-year tenure in the Motor City.
Unlike the failed pass rusher, the Lions don’t have big bucks tied into Flowers, who they can easily cut ties with at any time since he’s on the practice squad.
That being said, the veteran defensive back should not be viewed as an equal replacement for Reed. He’s bounced around the NFL since he was in his heyday with the Seattle Seahawks.
Over the last few seasons, Flowers has suited up for the Cincinnati Bengals, Atlanta Falcons, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Indianapolis Colts. Out of those four teams, Flowers saw the most playing time with the Bengals in 2022 (15 games) and Falcons in 2023 (17 games, 3 starts).
During the 2022 season with Cincy, Flowers struggled in pass coverage, sporting a 58.3 grade, per Pro Football Focus. However, the veteran defensive back had a 66.7 completion percentage allowed on targets, a 78.9 pass rating allowed when targeted, and only gave up one touchdown.
But Flowers’ play completely fell off with the Falcons, as he had a 41.9 coverage grade. The only saving grace is that he was solid in run defense (91.2 grade). Opposing QBs went right after the veteran cornerback, who recorded a career-worst 134.5 pass rating allowed when targeted and gave up two TDs.
If you asked Detroit fans who they would rather have signed instead of Flowers, most of them would have said Stephon Gilmore. Gilmore runs laps around Flowers, and at age 35, he could still start for some teams in the league.
Nonetheless, Detroit fans hope that they don’t have to see Flowers anytime soon on defense. If that happens, it means something has gone wrong in the secondary.