Lions offer no updates on banged-up secondary

Justin Rogers
The Detroit News

The Detroit Lions' secondary is hamstrung by their hamstrings. Three of the team's top four cornerbacks are currently dealing with injuries to the upper-leg muscle, including Desmond Trufant and Justin Coleman, who both exited Sunday's game against the Bears. 

On Monday, Lions coach Matt Patricia said both players were still in the evaluation period and it was too early to declare whether either was a candidate for the new, three-week injured reserve list. 

Lions cornerback Justin Coleman has been cleared to return to practice.

"Evaluating them today and have to see what they look like tomorrow," Patricia said Monday afternoon. 

Coleman was lost late in the first half, while Trufant suffered his injury in the closing minutes of the third quarter. The Lions were up 23-6 at the time of latter's exit and went on to allow 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter.

Bears quarterback Mitchell Trubisky completed eight of his 10 throws for 89 yards and three touchdowns in the final frame to lead the improbable comeback. 

"We don't use that as an excuse at all," Patricia said. "I certainly know that within a game — and this is just game management sort of information that we look at — when you lose two guys in one position, we know how thin you are, roster-depth wise and we do understand there's going to be a lot of adjusting and adapting and things we're going to have to do.

"That was hard yesterday, but Tony McRae did a great job, I thought, of stepping in and competing. He gave us everything he had, he was making plays on special teams. Everybody knows they have to be ready to go whenever that happens."

McRae is one of three healthy cornerbacks on the roster, along with Darryl Roberts and Amani Oruwariye. First-round pick Jeff Okudah was ruled out against Chicago shortly before kickoff with, you guessed it, a hamstring injury. It's possible he's cleared ahead of this weekend's NFC North tilt with Green Bay. 

Still, it's trending toward the Lions needing to add depth at the position for the week ahead. One option is Dee Virgin, who has been with the team the past couple of years and is currently on the practice squad.

Additionally, Detroit worked out Jaylen Watkins on Monday, according to the NFL Network. He previously played under Lions defensive coordinator Cory Undlin when he was working as Philadelphia's defensive backs coach. 

jdrogers@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @Justin_Rogers