D.J. Reed Misses Second Straight Day of Camp, and Detroit's Cornerback Situation Gets Harder to Ignore

Reed was absent from training camp Thursday for the second consecutive day, with no explanation offered. The Lions haven't said anything publicly about why their top cornerback isn't on the field, which makes it difficult to assess — but the timing is bad regardless of the reason.

Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph are both out. Terrion Arnold is gone entirely, released in June after his arrest on felony charges. That's three cornerbacks who aren't practicing, and the one who was supposed to anchor the whole thing is now a two-day mystery. Nick Whiteside is the depth chart's listed CB1 at the moment, which tells you something about where this position stands right now.

I noted a few days ago that this camp had the feel of a triage operation. That was mostly about the offensive side — Vaki's injury, the Gibbs contract situation, LaPorta's limited availability last season. The secondary was already a concern before Reed went missing. It's a bigger one now.

No reason to catastrophize yet. Reed could be back tomorrow. But Detroit's secondary has absorbed enough attrition this offseason that it has no margin left for additional absences, explained or otherwise.