Lions Won't Rush Fairley Back
There are two topics du jour around here these days. One, of course, is whether this early success is for real or if it is just another in a long line of Lions' teases. The other is if and when rookie defensive tackle Nick Fairley will play.
Regardless of how much success the Lions defensive line has had already this season, the public clamor to see the team's 13th overall pick continues to get louder and louder.
"I am champing at the bit, too," Fairley said last week.
He broke a bone in his foot on the second day of training camp and had surgery the next day. He has yet to practice since the surgery.
"I am just working with the trainers and trying to get everything to 110 percent so when I get out there I will be ready for the long run," he said. "Everything is going good. I am just waiting for the word that I can go."
Coach Jim Schwartz will not put a timetable on his return.
"At this point he's just an injury-report guy," Schwartz said. "We'll get him back as soon as we can. He's making good progress. He's going to play a lot of good football for us this year. When he is able, and he can represent himself well, we will get him out on the field."
The Lions have the luxury of erring on the side of caution. With Ndamukong Suh, Corey Williams, Sammie Hill and Andre Fluellen playing so well at defensive tackle, they can give Fairley all the time he needs to heal.
"With the depth that we have, it helps us not have to be impatient or make a bad decision," Schwartz said. "We don't have to put any player out before he's ready. That's been a help in this situation."
If Fairley could return to practice next week, there would be a slim chance he could play at Dallas on Oct. 2, but that would be pushing it. Cornerback Alphonso Smith, who also missed training camp with a broken foot, has been practicing for two weeks and still hasn't been activated on Sunday.
"I get excited just seeing him work with the trainers," defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said. "He's a great athlete. You see him on the side in street clothes and you wonder who the guy is. But you get him on the field and it's like he's a different person."
SERIES HISTORY
100th regular-season meeting. Vikings lead the series, 66-31-2. The Lions haven't won in Minnesota since 1997. They are 12-36-1 at Minnesota. The last time they won there, Scott Mitchell threw the game-winning touchdown pass to Herman Moore with 0.02 left. The Vikings won 13 straight games from 1968-1974 and were 20-3 in the last 23 meetings dating to 1999. That said, the Lions did win the last meeting -- 20-13 at Ford Field last season.
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