Okwara (knee) is active Sunday against the Panthers.
Okwara started the season on IR after suffering an injury during the team's final preseason game. After missing the mandatory four games, the Notre Dame product is ready to return to action and make his first appearance of the season. He should be a regular part of the Lions' rotation on the defensive line against Carolina.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Activated Saturday
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Okwara (knee) was activated from injured reserve Saturday.
Okwara suffered a knee injury during Detroit's preseason finale, but it seems as if he's since had time to move past the issue. Over the past three seasons, the 25-year-old defensive end has recorded 29 total tackles, 10 tackles for loss and seven sacks for the Lions' defense.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Designated to return from IR
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Okwara (knee) was designated to return from injured reserve by the Lions on Monday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Okwara will now have a 21-day window to return to practice and ultimately be added to the active roster. If that ultimately doesn't come to fruition, the defensive end will revert to IR for the remainder of the 2023 campaign. Okwara has been unavailable since Aug. 31 following a knee injury.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Headed to IR
Rotowire
The Lions placed Okwara (knee) on injured reserve Thursday, Colton Pouncy of The Athletic reports.
Okwara sustained a knee injury in the Lions' preseason finale against the Panthers on Saturday. The 2020 third-round pick out of Notre Dame will be forced to sit out the first four games of the season.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Recovered from injury
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Okwara was active during OTAs earlier this month for the Lions.
Okwara finished his 2022 campaign on IR after suffering an elbow injury in a Thanksgiving Day loss to the Bills. His participation at OTAs would suggest a clean bill of health, which has not been entirely common for the 25-year-old. A third-round selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, Okwara hasn't played more than 13 games in a single season, but he has been a regular part of Detroit's defensive line rotation when able to suit up.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Ruled out with elbow injury
Rotowire
Okwara (elbow) has been ruled out for Sunday's game against the Jaguars, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.
Okwara exited the Lions' Week 12 matchup against the Bills with the injury. He failed to practice in any capacity and is in line to miss his second contest of the season. In 10 games on the campaign, Okwara has recorded 17 total tackles with two sacks.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Leaves with injury
Rotowire
Okwara has exited Thursday's game against the Bills with an elbow injury.
Okwara suffered the injury as he fell to the turf chasing after Josh Allen. While the third-year pro is out, James Houston and Austin Bryant will likely continue to see an uptick in opportunities.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Won't play against Eagles
Rotowire
Okwara (hamstring) is inactive Week 1 against the Eagles.
Okwara was limited in practice all week and appeared to be a true game-time call heading into the opener, but it ultimately wasn't mean to be. The third-year pass-rush specialist had a career-best five sacks in 2021, but will now have to wait until at least Week 2 to begin his follow-up campaign.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Projects as starting linebacker
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Okwara projects as the starting strong-side linebacker in Detroit's base defense, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Okwara saw a jump in playing time last year after seeing less than 100 snaps as a rookie in 2020. It seems that he's now set to make another large jump after recording five sacks over 342 defensive snaps in 2021. However, it remains to be seen what proportion of his snaps will afford him pass-rush opportunities in the Lions' new 4-3 defense.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Won't play Sunday
Rotowire
Okwara (ankle) will not play Sunday against the Broncos, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.
Okwara has seen his role steadily rise throughout the season, but now he'll have to watch from the sidelines Sunday. With Trey Flowers (knee) hitting IR this week and Jalen Reeves-Maybin (shoulder) also out Sunday, the Lions' linebacker unit is getting thin. Jessie Lemonier will likely see a healthy boost in snaps in place of Okwara.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Solid preseason outing
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Okwara logged two tackles and one quarterback hit during Saturday's preseason loss to Pittsburgh.
After missing practice early on in training camp, Okwara topped his rookie year stat line during his preseason debut against the Bills. While handling another significant amount of reps against the Steelers, Okwara again displayed an ability to rush the passer. Although the Notre Dame product is cemented under Trey Flowers and Romeo Okwara in the outside linebacker rotation, Julian Okwara seems ready to be a key contributor for the Detroit defense this year.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Won't play versus Packers
Rotowire
Okwara (coach's decision) is inactive for Sunday's game versus the Packers.
The rookie third-rounder suited up in Week 1 against the Bears, logging 18 total snaps but failing to record a tackle. He's a healthy scratch Sunday and he'll look to get back into the lineup in Week 3 against the Cardinals.
