Where's Mekhi Wingo? Lions' second-year DT pushing for playing time by pushing starting o-line in practice

Allen Park — Mekhi Wingo wasn’t exactly lighting the NFL on fire as a sixth-round draft pick a year ago. Still, he was seeing regular defensive snaps for the Detroit Lions. Whatever you might think about his production, a Day 3 rookie earning playing time for a legitimate Super Bowl contender is noteworthy.

Wingo’s debut campaign came to an abrupt halt when he suffered a meniscus injury on Thanksgiving. And even though he said he anticipated being ready for the start of the team’s offseason program during locker room cleanout day in January, his rehab would hit enough snags that he didn’t return to the practice field until late August, missing most of training camp and all of the preseason.

Wingo made his season debut in Week 2, and he played a lot in that blowout win over the Chicago Bears. But since logging those 37 defensive snaps, he hasn’t seen additional action. Each week, when the team announces inactives 90 minutes before kickoff, there’s his name, among the healthy scratches.

In October, coach Dan Campbell noted the team wanted to give Wingo more time to get physically acclimated after the long layoff. Meanwhile, his practice performance would dictate when he’d re-enter the rotation.

Nearly three months later, Wingo is still waiting.