Lions’ Rookie Report: D’Andre Swift could be in for a quiet game

The Detroit Lions are hosting the Washington Football Team in Week 10 of the 2020 regular season and with injuries at key positions, the Lions rookies will look to benefit in playing time.

Let’s take a closer look at those opportunities.

CB Jeff Okudah

The rookie cornerback was dealing with ankle and groin injuries earlier this week, but was a full participant in practice late in the week, and is not listed with an injury designation.

The Lions opted to start Okudah over Amani Oruwariye last week alongside Desmond Trufant and Justin Coleman. Even before Okudah went down with an injury, the team did begin to rotate out their cornerbacks depending on the defensive situation.

Okudah should get the start today against Washington, but it’s certain that he’ll split his reps fairly evenly with Trufant and Oruwariye.

Washington does not rely on their receivers too often, instead opting to use running backs and tight ends, so the only real threat that Okudah may cover is their young and up-and-coming Terry McLaurin, who made some plays against Detroit in their matchup last season.

RB D’Andre Swift

Even when factoring in his lower production over the last few weeks, Swift may be in for a very quiet game.

The Football Team has done a good job at smothering running backs in the passing game, with the most receiving yards by a running back against them being just 38 yards.

Washington has also allowed an average of almost 129 rushing yards-per-game. Given that the Lions are only averaging 101 yards on the ground each week, things do not bode well for Swift.

OL Jonah Jackson and Logan Stenberg

Jackson will likely reprise his role as the team’s starting left guard and with Hal Vaitai inactive, Joe Dahl will hold down the right guard position. Both should be backed up by Oday Aboushi.

Stenberg is once again inactive.

WR Quintez Cephus

With Kenny Golladay and Jamal Agnew inactive, Cephus is expected to be active again serving as the Lions’ primary backup at wide receiver behind Marvin Jones and Marvin Hall.

The rookie was on the field for 41-percent of offensive snaps last week and gained 31 yards on both passes that came his way. He also made a huge contribution on special teams last week, picking up a blocked punt and bringing it inside the Vikings’ five-yard line.

DL John Penisini

Penisini has continued to see his role increase on the defensive line from week to week. Unfortunately, he and the rest of the line struggled to contain Dalvin Cook last week.

Still, the rookie will likely see significant time at the nose tackle position, especially with defensive tackle Nick Williams inactive. He should be good for a pair of tackles in this game while adding some pressure from the interior.