BB.LIONS BOOST COMING? Alim McNeill Already at ‘50/50’ to Return — Big Encouragement for Next Stretch

In a rare occurrence, injury news is rapidly changing in a good direction for the Detroit Lions.

This week, defensive tackle Alim McNeill returned to practice ahead of schedule from his torn ACL injury in last season’s Week 15 loss to the Buffalo Bills. On Friday , head coach Dan Campbell took things a step further by revealing that McNeill had a chance to make his season debut this Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals, saying that the odds were “50/50.”

We’ve talked about it. I don’t know. I don’t know. I don’t know, man. I think right now it’s probably 50/50. I know he wants to play, but we want to be smart, too. This will be one of those decisions we’ll probably make after practice.

Coach Campbell on Alim McNeill pic.twitter.com/hy2Gvpba9B— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 3, 2025

McNeill’s impending return would be a miraculous recovery for the talented defender. It would also be a huge boost for the Lions’ defensive front, which has already done well to stop the run and may potentially have an elite pass-rushing duo. At the time of his injury, McNeill was considered a lock for his first Pro Bowl selection and a strong contender for his first All-Pro nod.

However, Friday’s injury report officially listed McNeill as “Out.” It’s a better safe than sorry approach as McNeill shouldn’t be necessary on Sunday. The Bengals have struggled on offense, largely due to their poor play on the offensive line and run game.

McNeill would have likely been limited, but getting a few live game reps would have helped bring him up to speed for an upcoming gauntlet of games against potential playoff teams with a bye week in between.

The first of those matchups would be against the Kansas City Chiefs, who have rebounded from their 0-2 start while defeating the Baltimore Ravens by a larger margin than the Lions did in Week 3. The Chiefs have a solid offensive line, but their leading rusher is quarterback Patrick Mahomes.

Afterward, it’s the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, followed by a bye week. Then it’s the Minnesota Vikings and the Washington Commanders. It doesn’t get easier after that, either.

The key upcoming game to keep an eye on would be the Week 12 game against the Philadelphia Eagles. The Eagles have a strong run game, and their infamous “tush push” vaulted them to Super Bowl champions. McNeill should be fully up to speed by then, which would be significant as he’ll arguably be the single most important Lion for that game.

Because of that, don’t be surprised if Campbell approaches McNeill with a degree of caution in the weeks leading up to ensure he can make a maximum impact in that game.

Kerby Joseph return to practice adds to the good news

The Lions received more good news on Friday as safety Kerby Joseph returned to practice. Joseph has missed practice all week for a knee injury suffered in the Lions’ 34-10 win against the Cleveland Browns on top of lingering issues dating back to training camp.

Campbell described Joseph’s injury as not “something out of the norm,” but that he has been dealing with some things “physically.” Campbell expressed confidence in Joseph’s trajectory, saying, “I think we’re on the uptick with him.

Coach Campbell with an update on Kerby Joseph pic.twitter.com/SCp7GXUm42— Detroit Lions (@Lions) October 3, 2025

Joseph’s return to practice is great news, given the recent surge of injuries to the Lions’ secondary. On Wednesday, cornerback D.J. Reed was placed on the Injured Reserve with a hamstring injury after he was carted off the field last Sunday.

The Lions’ other starting CB, Terrion Arnold, also left the Browns game with a shoulder injury. Arnold was at risk of missing time, but has since returned to practice himself. Both Joseph and Arnold are expected to play against the Bengals, whose star receiving duo could pose a test for the secondary.

It hasn’t been a perfect week for the Lions on the injury front, but the potentially sudden return of one of their best defenders, along with avoiding serious injuries for two starting members of the secondary, comes as a big relief for one of the league’s top defenses and a fanbase haunted by injury woes last season.

A ton of ejections. A goal taken away 15 minutes later. Panthers-Lightning was wild Saturday

Niko Mikkola had an assist on a goal that gave the Florida Panthers an 8-0 lead. Problem was, he’d been kicked out of the game a few minutes earlier and nobody noticed.

It was that kind of night between the Panthers and the Tampa Bay Lightning.

Florida beat Tampa Bay 7-0 in the preseason finale for both clubs Saturday night, though the score was irrelevant. There were 65 penalties for 312 minutes on the stat sheet, including 13 game misconduct penalties – seven for Tampa Bay, six for Florida. The penalty count kept rising after the game, while officials were making sure everything that was called got logged.

Florida had 17 power-play chances in the game, by the NHL’s count.

“It got silly. It got stupid by the end of it,” Florida forward Evan Rodrigues said. “It wasn’t really hockey out there.”

The parade to the penalty boxes started about two minutes into the game when Tampa Bay’s Scott Sabourin – who was among six players the Lightning called up for the game – went after Florida’s Aaron Ekblad. Sabourin got a major penalty after playing only 19 seconds.

“It made you think there might be something coming,” Florida’s Eetu Luostarinen said, when asked what he thought when he saw the Lightning called up players for the game.

What would have been the eighth Florida goal of the night, midway through the third period, was taken away 15 minutes after Jesper Boqvist scored. Off-ice officials realized that Mikkola couldn’t have had an assist on the play – since he’d been ejected earlier in the period.

The teams skated with the scoreboard saying Florida led 8-0 for about five minutes of actual game time, before officials informed both teams that the goal had been taken away and Mikkola had to leave the game.

The Lightning took nine penalties and had no shots on goal in the third period.

Saturday’s game came two nights after the teams combined for 49 penalties and 186 minutes in another preseason contest, one the Lightning won 5-2.

Tampa Bay went to three consecutive Stanley Cup Finals from 2020 through 2022, winning two titles in that span. Florida has been to each of the last three Stanley Cup Finals and has won the last two Cups. And it has long been a heated rivalry between the franchises.

“I think anybody that´s been a part of this rivalry would probably look at this box score and A, not be surprised and B, I can´t believe it´s taken this long for something like that to happen,” Lightning coach Jon Cooper said.