Also back at practice Wednesday was Pro Bowl left guard Jonah Jackson, who missed the last three games with a ring finger injury on his right hand.
After losing right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai to a back injury before the season started, losing Jackson certainly wasn’t ideal, but the Lions have handled the loss of two starting guards pretty well so far. Logan Stenberg, Evan Brown and Dan Skipper held down the fort.
But potentially getting a Pro Bowl player back along an offensive line that’s already playing great will give Detroit’s No. 1-ranked offense even more of a lift.
Can the Lions glean anything from the week they spent coaching Bailey Zappe at the Senior Bowl? He might be New England’s starting quarterback this week against the Lions.
“Highly intelligent,” Campbell said of Zappe. “He picked up the offense very quickly. Very composed. Just had a good command of the huddle. Teammates respected him. You could tell they listened to him. And he plays that way.”
Patriots starting quarterback Mac Jones is dealing with a high-ankle sprain and missed last week’s game. Backup Brian Hoyer suffered a concussion in the loss to Green Bay last week, leaving Zappe to play the second half. Zappe was 10-of-15 passing for 99 yards and a touchdown.
“I thought (the Patriots) did a good job with him (last week) just trying to get him settled in,” Campbell said. “Being smart and not putting him in a bind. Continue to run the football and do things to get the ball out. I thought coach (Matt) Patricia called a good game.”
