Allen Park — The Detroit Lions come home to Ford Field for the second of the team’s three-game preseason slate on Saturday, when they host the Washington Commanders for a noon tilt.
The Lions are expected to play significantly more projected starters in this contest as they gear up for the regular season opener next month.
Here’s who we’ll be focusing on during the matchup:
Running back Sione Vaki
An encouraging offseason filled with developmental progress was temporarily paused by misfortune, when a defender’s hand slipped through Vaki’s facemask, resulting in an eye poke and a broken nose.
Now sporting a visor to prevent a repeat of the incident, Vaki made a surprisingly quick return to practice after missing less than two weeks. He’s jumped right back into reps with the first-team offense and has been running with authority between the tackles and showing enough speed to get the perimeter, like he did for a long gain during a full-team scrimmage on Monday night.