Lions look like they're going to have trouble with some NFL roster rules again this year

Injuries are the absolute worst, and they have bitten the Detroit Lions right in the butt in the last two years. The good news is that things seem to be trending up in that department.

They're slated to get some guys back from injury pretty soon. But they're also in a spot now where they can't afford anything else that will send a player to the IR with the possibility of returning.

Lions are already pushing up against the allotted players they can bring back from injured reserve in a year

This one needs a little gymnastics to figure out. Right now, the Lions haven't actually used one of the eight returns they're allowed to use. But they're about to with safety Daniel Thomas returning to practice on Tuesday. That leaves seven spots left. Now, you just have to use your imagination a little.

D.J. Reed is expected to return as early as next week; Marcus Davenport is eligible to return now; Zach Cunningham can come back in four weeks; Khalil Dorsey can return in November; and Giovanni Manu can get back on the field in mid-November. That's six spots right there.

Malcolm Rodriguez is coming back this week, and Josh Paschal and Miles Frazier can return to action at some point. Since they're on the reserve physically unable to perform and Non-Football Injury lists, they do not count against those eight designated to return spots. So the Lions get lucky there.

So what does this mean for the rest of the season? It could mean the Lions operate similarly to how they did last year with David Montgomery. They just didn't put him on IR, and therefore, they didn't have to worry about using a spot.

That's the easiest way to counter this. Another is that you simply hope nobody gets hurt the rest of the year, and it doesn't matter. But as we know, that's not something that happens in football.

The Lions do get some help with this later in the year when playoff time comes. They can get two extra return spots in the postseason. So if they need to add someone later in the year, they can do that comfortably, knowing they can bring them back later.

For now, just watch how the Lions handle injuries. They may decide to just have an injured player or two just wait it out on the 53-man roster to make sure they use those final two return spots well.

In the spring, the Lions proposed a rule change that would allow teams to have 95 players on their in-season roster instead of 90. Maybe they're the team leading the charge on trying to change this rule this coming spring.