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By Noah Camras
Contributing Sports Writer
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The Detroit Lions enter the 2024 season looking to replicate their success in 2023.
The Lions had their most successful season in over three decades last year, going 12-5 and making the NFC Championship Game, where they lost to the San Francisco 49ers.
The Lions had a busy offseason and spent a lot of it upgrading their defense. Their biggest acquisition was eight-year veteran defensive tackle D.J. Reader, who joined the Lions on a two-year, $22 million deal.
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Reader was expected to come in and immediately shore up the interior of the Lions' defense. However, an injury suffered late last season could keep him out for the beginning of this season.
In Week 15 of the 2023 season, Reader, then with the Cincinnati Bengals, suffered a torn quadriceps in a win over the Minnesota Vikings. Reader is continuing to recover from that injury and was placed on the active/physically unable to perform list on July 2.
Reader is yet to participate in team drills during training camp and told ESPN on Thursday that he isn't sure if he'll be ready for Week 1 of the 2024 season with his new team.
"I don't know exactly Week 1 or whatever, but feeling good, feeling better and just really working," Reader said to ESPN. "Every day it's getting better. It's not like I'm not doing stuff, so I'm doing drills and doing stuff, but I'm not really too worried about the upper-body strength part, just trying to get the lower body back right now."
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Is he putting pressure on himself to be ready for their Week 1 opener against the Los Angeles Rams, a rematch of last year's Wild Card playoff game?
"I don't think I'm putting any pressure on myself. The way the guys are playing, I'll be able to step in and just be a part," Reader told ESPN. "Obviously know what I can do so it's all about sitting back and envisioning. Obviously, you want to push yourself every day and I'm focused on that but pressure on myself is something I don't really feel. This offense is gonna put up points, and we're going to be playing a long time, so I'm excited a lot for the back end of the season because I know what I bring."
In 14 games with the Bengals last season, Reader had 34 tackles, two tackles for loss, and one sack. In 105 games across his eight-year career, Reader has 277 tackles, 23 tackles for loss, and 9.5 sacks.
Reader was drafted by the Houston Texans in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He spent four seasons with Houston before spending the next four with Cincinnati. The 30-year-old will hope for a career year in his first season in Detroit.
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