Lions' Carter expects to be ready for regular season
Among the Lions players who were injured before training camp began, cornerback Alex Carter seems to be the one progressing the slowest based on what he's been able to do off to the side with trainers during practice.
However, the third-round pick said Saturday he expects to be healthy enough to return before the regular season begins.
"Oh, for sure," he said when asked if he'd recover before the Sept. 13 game at the San Diego Chargers.
Carter is one of five players yet to practice during training camp. Offensive tackle LaAdrian Waddle (knee), running back Joique Bell (knee/Achilles) and defensive end Jason Jones (knee) are on the physically unable to perform list. All three hope to return for Week 1 and have spent significant portions of practice running or doing position-specific drills.
Defensive tackle Haloti Ngata (hamstring) is on the non-football injury list, and although he hasn't been doing much work during practice, coach Jim Caldwell said last week he's on track to return and running inside with trainers.
Carter, meanwhile, has done little running at full speed, but he took a big step forward Saturday when he worked on his back-pedaling, a good way for a cornerback to test the strength of his ankles.
"I'll be fine soon," Carter said. "They're telling me that I'm progressing pretty quickly, ahead of schedule. I've just got to be smart with it, be safe. But it's good."
If Carter can return within the next two weeks, which is his hope, he'd have a chance to appear in the final exhibition game, which would give the coaches a good indication of how he can handle the speed of the NFL game.
Ideally, the Lions would like to essentially give the 20-year-old Carter a redshirt season. He might be the team's best option as a backup to Rashean Mathis and Darius Slay on the outside, but if they remain healthy, Carter likely will play minimally on defense as Josh Wilson, Nevin Lawson and sixth-round pick Quandre Diggs have all looked capable of handling nickel duties.
But with his speed and strength, Carter could be a valuable asset on special teams, particularly covering punts and kickoffs.
Remember, sensational New York Giants rookie receiver Odell Beckham Jr. missed all of training camp and the first four regular-season games last year, and he still had one of the top rookie campaigns in NFL history. So, even if Carter misses the entire preseason, it'd be premature to assume he won't have some role as a rookie.
jkatzenstein@detroitnews.com
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