Barnes (lower body) was not listed on Detroit's injury report Wednesday.
Barnes was forced out of Thursday's game at Green Bay with cramps, but he now appears to be back to full strength for Week 5. He'll resume his starting role at linebacker next to Alex Anzalone and Jack Campbell.
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Lions' Derrick Barnes: Exits game early
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Barnes (lower body) is questionable to return to the Lions' contest with the Packers on Thursday night, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.
Barnes is dealing with some lower-body cramps and may not be able to re-enter the game. In his absence, Anthony Pittman will likely see an increase in workload.
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Lions' Derrick Barnes: Ties for team lead in tackles
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Barnes logged six tackles with one TFL during Thursday's 21-20 win over the Chiefs.
Barnes drew the start at linebacker next to Alex Anzalone, and he ended up tying his counterpart for the team lead in tackles despite seeing about half of the defensive snaps. However, Barnes averaged just 4.3 tackles per game while operating in a similar role down the stretch last season, and he figures to see less playing time as the campaign unfolds given the presence of first-round draft pick Jack Campbell.
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Lions' Derrick Barnes: Good to go
Rotowire
Barnes (knee) has been cleared to play in Saturday's game versus the Panthers.
Barnes has been sidelined for the Lions' previous two games while nursing a knee injury. However, he logged limited workloads at practice all this week and appears to be ready to return to his usual role, assuming he avoids any setbacks.
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Lions' Derrick Barnes: Seven stops in massive win
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Barnes recorded seven tackles (six solo) during Sunday's 31-18 victory versus the Giants.
Barnes logged his third-best tackling performance of the season as the Lions rolled over the Giants in Week 11. While the linebacker did the majority of his work on defense (36 snaps), he also added one solo tackle over his 14 special-teams snaps. After playing just 88 defensive snaps and totaling 13 tackles over the first seven weeks of the season, Barnes has totaled 21 tackles while playing 119 of his 137 snaps on defense over the past three weeks.
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Lions' Derrick Barnes: Leads big defensive effort
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Barnes recorded 12 tackles (four solo), including one sack, and added one pass defensed in Sunday's 15-9 win over Green Bay.
Detroit's defense stymied Aaron Rodgers and the Packers all afternoon, and Barnes played a big part in that, more than doubling his previous season high with 12 stops. He also registered his first sack of the campaign when he brought down Rodgers after Green Bay had passed midfield late in the second quarter. Barnes played on 67 percent of the Lions' defensive snaps in the victory, by far his highest share of playing time so far this season.
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Lions' Derrick Barnes: Role expanding
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With Detroit expected to move on from Jamie Collins, Barnes is positioned for an expanded role on defense, Chris Burke of The Athletic reports.
Burke notes that head coach Dan Campbell suggested this week that Barnes likely won't directly step into Collins' starting role and log close to 100 percent of the snaps. Instead, Alex Anzalone is expected to remain a key cog at inside linebacker while Barnes and Jalen Reeves-Maybin rotate in beside him. However, Reeves-Maybin has mostly been a special-teams player through five seasons in the league and Barnes is a fourth-round rookie who has impressed with his pass-rushing and tackling ability, so it wouldn't be a surprise if Detroit gives Barnes more and more playing time as the season unfolds.
