Cardinals' Julian Okwara: Next man up after Gardeck injury
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Okwara is set to start alongside linebackers Kyzir White and Mack Wilson after Dennis Gardeck suffered a season-ending ACL injury during Monday's win over the Chargers, Kevin Zimmerman of Arizona Sports reports.
Gardeck, who leads the Cardinals with three sacks this season, tore his ACL in the second half of Monday's game, and he will be out for the rest of the year. Okwara stepped in with the first-team defense following Gardeck's injury, and the former finished the game with one solo tackle across 35 snaps, including a season-high 29 snaps on defense. Okwara is the top candidate to start at linebacker alongside White and Wilson, though Krys Barnes and Jesse Luketa should also see their snaps on defense increase. Okwara's most productive season came in 2021 as a member of the Lions, during which he registered 27 tackles (18 solo), including 5.0 sacks, two pass breakups, one interception, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery across 13 regular-season games.
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Lions' Julian Okwara: Ready for season debut
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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: 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: 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
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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
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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: 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
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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.
