ALLEN PARK >> With Tyrunn Walker gone for the season, and Haloti Ngata out of practice with a calf injury the defensive tackle spot is certainly in flux.
Ngata is not definitely out for Sunday’s home game against the Arizona Cardinals, but he has not practiced yet this week.
So the Lions brought in two defensive tackles. Andre Fluellen returned on Wednesday. On Thursday they signed veteran Ishmaa’ily Kitchen.
Fluellen can fit right in because not only is this his fourth stint with the Lions, but he played eight games in 2014.
“You know, when you’re at a situation where you need someone who can have an immediate impact, you need somebody that knows the system, that understands it,” coach Jim Caldwell said of Fluellen. “Obviously, he’s been here a number of times and has a good feel for it, understands how we do things, so he can catch up with some of the tweaks and adjustments that we’ve made from last year to this year rather quickly. Veterans can do that. They translate pretty quickly, but he’s familiar even with our operation in terms of how the defensive line practices and so on and so forth, which I think is helpful.”
Defensive coordinator Teryl Austin knows Kitchen from his rookie time with the Baltimore Ravens.
“He was a rookie free agent for us and we really liked him and I think we wanted to keep him but Cleveland signed him,” Austin said. “I think we were going to try to put him on our practice squad, but Cleveland signed him and he’s turned into a pretty good pro, so I wouldn’t say I know him well, but I know him well enough.”
Other healthy defensive tackles include Caraun Reid, rookie Gabe Wright and Jermelle Cudjo.
Austin said Wright could see more playing time on Sunday.
“He’s making the typical rookie mistakes and rookie adjustment, but the progress we’ve seen from Gabe is the fact that he really can come off the ball and he has a knack for shedding blockers and getting in the opponent’s backfield. So that’s the biggest thing,” Austin said. “He still has to improve on his scheme awareness, what the blocks are doing to him and how he’s getting attacked, but we like where he is right now and are really pleased with his progression.”
To make room on the roster, the Lions released defensive end Phillip Hunt.
Fluellen back again
Andre Fluellen was watching Monday Night Football when he saw Lions defensive tackle Tyrunn Walker go down and be carted off to the locker room.
He didn’t expect a phone call from the Lions but his wife Quiana did.
“My wife was like, ‘You know you’re going back there, go ahead and start packing,” Fluellen said Thursday.
“I was dozing in and out, she gets all the ESPN updates on her phone. … She got an update and it said what happened, she was like ‘I hope you’re ready to get back.’ I said, ‘Not this time.’
She started packing for him at their home in Georgia. He got a text early Tuesday morning from his agent that he needed to catch a flight for a workout. It’s the ninth contract he’s signed with the Lions who he has played for on and off since 2008. Fluellen was released by the Buffalo Bills on Friday.
Walker is out for the season after surgery on Tuesday for a broken leg.
“Honestly I’d rather not be here. T Walker had a really nasty injury I’d rather him not have that injury than me be here,” Fluellen said. “That’s how the NFL is so I’m thankful and grateful to be here seriously.”
Levy makes progress
DeAndre Levy is making progress completing two straight days of full practices on Wednesday and Thursday. It’s looking more like a possibility that the weakside linebacker could make his season debut on Sunday.
“It would be a boost because he is one of our better players as we know,” Austin said. “We’ll have to see how that shakes out. I don’t think it will change anything that we do, we’ll just expect Lev to come in and play the way Lev plays and we’ll take it from there if he’s available to play.”
Van Noy’s progress
It’s been a slow introduction to the NFL for linebacker Kyle Van Noy. He missed half of his rookie season and this season is playing mostly special teams.
For a second-round pick it seems he might be further ahead, but coach Jim Caldwell doesn’t see it that way.
“Well, I think he’s progressing when you look at him from a special teams standpoint. Typically, what you find, Tahir Whitehead played a huge role in terms of special teams before he started playing a little bit more at linebacker and I think he’s going through the same progression,” Caldwell said. “Just like I tell him, early on, I think he just wants to do so well and wants to be a factor so early, but it’s part of a natural progression.”
The difference is that Whitehead was a fifth-round pick. Caldwell also referenced DeAndre Levy (third-round pick) but he started as a rookie.
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