On Tuesday, the Detroit Lions announced they are activating third-round rookie quarterback Hendon Hooker from the non-football injury list and waiving kicker Riley Patterson in a corresponding move.
Hooker tore his ACL in November of 2022 while at the University of Tennessee and the Lions have slowly been working with him to return from injury. The Lions opened up Hooker’s evaluation window three weeks ago, and on the final day of the process, the Lions were required to make a decision on his status, which led to him being activated to the 53-man roster.
This decision shouldn’t come as much of a surprise as coaches have said all season they planned on bringing the rookie back when able to, so they could develop him for his future NFL role.