Golladay Out Versus Steelers, Former DE Mihalik Likely To Start At Left Tackle
By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid
The Lions didn't heal over the bye week quite the way they would have liked.
Wide receiver Kenny Golladay and tackles Greg Robinson and Emmett Cleary will not play in Sunday night's game versus the Steelers.
Golladay hasn't played since suffering a hamstring injury in Week 3. Things looked good when he returned to practice on Wednesday, but the rookie apparently suffered a setback as he was held out of practice both Thursday and Friday.
Robinson and Cleary, Detroit's top two left tackles, both sustained ankle injuries in the team's Week 6 loss versus the Saints. That means it will likely fall to Brian Mihalik to protect Matthew Stafford's blindside against one of the best pass-rushing teams in the NFL on Sunday night.
Mihalik, who switched to tackle last year after playing defensive end in college, has never started a game in the NFL. The Lions also signed tackle John Skipper to the active roster on Thursday.
On the positive side of things, Glover Quin returned to practice this week after leaving the Saints game with a concussion. He'll play on Sunday.
And to offset the absence of Golladay, it appears Golden Tate will be good to go as well. Tate injured his shoulder against the Saints and it was originally reported he would miss multiple weeks. He practiced in each of the last three days, albeit in limited fashion, and is listed as questionable for Sunday's game.
"I feel OK," Tate said Thursday. "Just taking it day by day, trying to get better, trying to get back on the field as fast as possible. Just trying to trust the process.
"Obviously I'd love to be out there, but it's going to be the trainers' and coach Caldwell's decision at the end of the day. I'm just trying to get this shoulder where it needs to be. I don't know what to expect. I've never had a shoulder injury like this, so I don't really know. I'm just doing the treatment like they want me to do, doing the best job I can, and just trying to get back as soon as I can."
Tate hasn't missed a game in four seasons with the Lions.
