Lions RB Jahvid Best skips practice after concussion vs. Browns
Jahvid Best missed the final four games of his junior season at Cal after suffering a scary concussion against Oregon State. For that reason, the Lions are being extra careful with his most recent head injury.
Best sat out practice Sunday, two days after suffering a concussion on a helmet-to-helmet hit from Joe Haden on the first offensive play in Friday’s 30-28 exhibition win over Cleveland.
Best was not seen on the practice field or in the locker room, but coach Jim Schwartz downplayed the severity of the running back’s injury.
“When he was originally on the sideline he was, I don’t want to say bell-rung, but he was bell-rung and then he recovered pretty quickly,” Schwartz said. “At that point we weren’t going to put him back in the game, but then he started to experience a little headache, so we took him in (the locker room) and declared him out of the game, but by the next day he was clearing up. I think that’s a big thing.”
Best played two snaps after the hit, carrying the ball both times, and lost a fumble before leaving. He said after the game he would have continued to play had it been the regular season.
Schwartz said he did not know if Best was medically cleared to return Sunday, but Best did not present severe symptoms after the game.
“Usually the guys in my experience and the experience we’ve had with guys that have been concussed is usually they finish the game and they feel fine right after the game and the next day they come in and they haven’t slept and all the classic symptoms, and he’s been different,” Schwartz said. “But we’ll take it slow with him, just based on his situation from a couple years ago. We’ll just be very, very cautious with him. But we should have him back on the practice field pretty soon.”
With Best out, Stefan Logan took snaps at running back during position drills Sunday, and Maurice Morris practiced some for the first time since suffering a broken right hand this month.
Morris wore a protective cast on his hand and did not take part in team activities.
“It’s just a matter of whether he can hold the ball in that hand,” Schwartz said. “In practice you don’t want guys with ball-security problems dropping passes, things like that, but we’re a lot more willing to accept that (with him).”
INJURY UPDATE: Receivers Calvin Johnson (shoulder) and Demario Ballard (ankle), tight end Tony Scheffler (hand), cornerback Chris Houston (groin) and safety John Wendling (knee) returned to practice after sitting out against the Browns.
Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch, offensive tackle Corey Hilliard, defensive tackle Quinn Pitcock and fullback Matt Clapp did not practice. Vanden Bosch said he was given the day off as rest.
“I’ll just put it this way with all of (the guys that sat out), we don’t have anything that’s long term.” Schwartz said. “I think we came out and we have some guys that have training-camp bumps and bruises and day-after-game bumps and bruises, but right now we don’t have anything that’s long term.”
HIGHER LEARNING: The fourth quarter was a mixed bag in learning-how-to-win department Friday.
Dave Rayner kicked a game-winning 48-yard field goal to cap a comeback from 15 points down, and Ian Johnson converted an important third-and-1 rush just before the 2-minute warning, but the Lions also took a silly penalty on a punt in the final minutes (one of 14 in the game) and failed to convert a fourth-and-1 while trying to protect their lead.
“It was good not to play your best but also be able to eke out a win,” Schwartz said. “It’s a lot better than playing your best and still not being able to win or playing poorly and getting blown out.
“There’s probably some more learning opportunities in a close win than if we would have gone out and had another 34-3 (game like the exhibition opener).”
BRIEFLY: The Lions waived-injured offensive lineman Isaac Sowells. Safety Randy Phillips, who was waived injured last week, was reverted to injured reserve.
Contact Dave Birkett: 313-222-8831 or dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @freeplions.