Detroit Lions Add Veteran WR, Returner to Practice Squad

The Detroit Lions did not wait too long to add a veteran returner to be in the mix to replace Tom Kennedy.

Former Bears and Browns receiver DeAndre Carter will reportedly be inked to the teams practice squad.

Following the unfortunate MCL injury to Kennedy that will keep him away for the remainder of the 2026 NFL season, head coach Dan Campbell indicated the team would be in search externally for a new returner.

According to the transaction wire, the team worked out two wideouts, including Steven Sims and Carter.

The 33-year-old played collegiately at Sacremento State (2011-2014). He went undrafted in 2015, but landed with the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent. He has bounced around the league with stints at Oakland, New England, San Francisco, Philadelphia, Chicago, Washington, Los Angeles Chargers, Las Vegas and Cleveland.

During the 2024 season with Chicago, he averaged 31.9 yards per kickoff return, including 67-yarder. He returned a total of 17 punts and averaged 9.3 yards per return.

In late September of 2025, Carter was placed on the injured reserve list due to a knee injury suffered against Detroit in Week 4 of the regular season.

Special teams coordinator Dave Fipp was recently asked if the team was aiming for a certain starting spot average during returns.

“We have a lot of individual goals I'm not going to get into because you start saying those to people and then they start holding you accountable to all that," said Fipp. "We have our own metrics that we use. I certainly have mine. We have our own standards. We compare ourself to our standard after every single game in all areas, not only on kickoff, kickoff return. And the drive start is a major one for that. Obviously, we look at all the penalty stuff. That's really important in the return game.

"And then punt and punt and punt return, as you guys know, I mean, I do like stats," Fipp added. "I just don't like the way that they're publicized, like punt is terrible. The statistic for punt right now, I mean, I don't even know. They say gross punt's a good thing. Well, if you punt from the plus 40-yard line, your gross punt's not going to be very good. If you say net punt, same thing. If you punt out on your own 10-yard line a whole game, you're going to have a good net versus if you punt from the 50."

Fipp said the Lions have extensive information regarding return stats and compare themselves to league averages.

"We break down the punt into a bunch of different areas of the field and compare ourself to the league's numbers over the years," said Fipp. "And so, we do that after every single game, so we know exactly where we are in all areas. We have a high standard. It's not average. Our goal is to be well above that in all phases.”

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