James Houston 'ready to get out there' and help Detroit Lions in playoffs
James Houston is back and ready to help the Detroit Lions in the playoffs.
The Lions activated Houston off injured reserve Thursday, four months and one day after he fractured his fibula in a Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Houston, who was nearing the end of his 21-day practice window, was listed as a full participant on the Lions' estimated practice report Wednesday, when the team held a walk-through instead of a practice.
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The Lions waived outside linebacker Julian Okwara to clear a spot for Houston's return.
"I’m ready to get out there," Houston told the Free Press on Wednesday. "It looks like it’s fun. They’re winning and the whole city is behind them, so I want to be out there."
Houston's return could help a Lions defense that has struggled to generate pressure with its four-man pass rush at times this season.
Aidan Hutchinson has seven sacks in the past three games, but he was the only Lions defensive player who had more than five sacks in the regular season.
Houston, a sixth-round pick in the 2022 draft, had eight sacks in seven games as a rookie after opening the season on practice squad. He is one of the Lions' most gifted pass rushers, though Lions coach Dan Campbell said earlier this month he will face challenges playing his first game since Sept. 17 in the playoffs.
"That’s a lot to ask," Campbell said before the Lions' Week 18 game against the Minnesota Vikings. Whenever you’re coming off an injury, any player, it’s just a matter of how fast you can get your confidence back in your own abilities, your body. You’re rusty. It takes a minute to get used to what it is, cause it’s not going to feel like it did before, it just never does. So a lot of that will be just time on task, getting out there moving, running and see how far he can come."
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Houston said Wednesday he's ready for the intensity of the playoffs and expects to contribute as a situational rusher upon his return.
"I hear people say playoff game’s more intense and stuff like that, but it’s a football game for me," Houston said. "At the end of the day I'm going to go out there and I’m going to try to execute my job the same way I did when I played last year or this year."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions activate James Houston: 'I want to be out there'
