Lions Sign CB, Release LB, Elevate Two From Practice Squad

The Detroit Lions have elevated two defensive backs from the practice squad, ahead of their Week 7 Monday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Veteran Arthur Maulet was signed to the active roster to provide depth at nickel cornerback. Linebacker Ty Summer was released after a short stint in Motown.

The two elevations add help to a battered unit. Loren Strickland adds special teams value and another player who can aid at safety, if called upon. Tre Flowers is a defensive back who has size and has acclimated well since joining the Lions.

Defensive tackle Alim McNeill was officially activated off of the PUP list.

Over the weekend, the team officially ruled out safety Kerby Joseph due to a knee injury. With Brian Branch serving a suspension for slapping Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster, Kelvin Sheppard's secondary needed reinforcements.

It is expected Thomas Harper and Erik Hallet will get the bulk of the snaps at safety, while Rock Ya-Sin and Amik Robertson will be on the outside.

Detroit's defense is aiming to rebound after being off against the Chiefs. The team did not meet several markers established by Sheppard that ended up being costly.

"What I mean by that is, you started to look at the red zone, I believe they were 4 of 6. We say we want to be 50 percent or less, so we were one off there," said Sheppard. "You look at third-down, they were at 40 percent. We wanted to hold teams to under 35 percent, we were one off there. And a lot of those you look at -- you make these excuses.

"A lot of narratives out there, penalties, things like that. What we do is control what we can and we had multiple opportunities and multiple of those situations to control those outcomes and make a different outcome and our guys didn’t do that," Sheppard added. But all of this stuff has been addressed."

Detroit's first-year defensive coordinator indicated the roster is always coming into the building ready to learn and correct their mistakes.

Against a Buccaneers squad that is playing well offensively, Sheppard must navigate having several new players in the secondary.

"More importantly, the players have come back in the building very optimistic for this week, looking forward to another great team, another great challenge on the big stage," said Sheppard. "So, I’m looking forward to the way we respond this week.”