Lions keep the same foursome protected on the practice squad as Week 2
Being on an NFL practice squad often comes with inherent job insecurity. But for three members of the Detroit Lions 16-man practice squad, the team has valued them enough to protect them from being poached by other teams in all three weeks of the 2020 NFL season to date.
Just as they did in Week 2, the Lions protected the following four players:
QB David Blough
RB Kerrith Whyte
TE Isaac Nauta
CB/Gunner Dee Virgin
Blough, Nauta and Virgin were also all protected in Week 1. Whyte took Jonathan Williams’ spot as the protected RB in Week 2. Williams was released from Detroit’s practice squad on Tuesday.
The protecting of practice squad members is a new wrinkle in the roster construction for 2020. All the practice players are subject to waivers following Sunday’s game, but the Lions can then protect four of them from being signed by another team after Tuesday’s waiver deadline.
Thus far the claiming off waivers of practice squad players has been almost nonexistent. Not a single player who was on a practice squad in Week 2 was tabbed in the claim period this week, per the NFL’s transaction wire.
