Veteran WR Returns to Detroit for Another Stint With Lions

Getty Maurice Alexander returns a kick for the Lions in 2022.

The Detroit Lions are adding some veteran depth to their practice squad with a wide receiver who has become very familiar in Detroit.

NFL reporter Aaron Wilson noted on Nov. 13 that the Lions signed receiver Maurice Alexander to their practice squad. Though he’s light on NFL game experience, Alexander has spent considerable time on the practice squad in Detroit and will now fill the spot of an undrafted rookie who was waived earlier this month.

Lions Making Moves in Wide Receiver Room

The 27-year-old Alexander first joined the Lions in 2022, signing with the team after a standout season with the Philadelphia Stars of the USFL. Alexander appeared in four games for the Lions in the 2022 season, serving mostly as a kick returner.

Alexander spent the 2023 season back on the practice squad and came back again for training camp this season, but was released before the final 53-man roster cutdown.

The Lions instead gave a spot to undrafted rookie Isaiah Williams, a preseason standout who earned his way onto the active roster. But Williams was also surpassed by another receiver and ended up being a healthy scratch for six games, Christian Booher of SI.com noted.

“Detroit has been helped at the receiver position by the emergence of veteran Tim Patrick,” he wrote. “Signed to the practice squad after being cut by the Denver Broncos, Patrick has worked his way into a key role on the roster. In seven games this season, Patrick has 12 catches for 177 yards in addition to several key blocks.”

Williams was waived earlier this month and claimed by the Cincinnati Bengals, thwarting any plans the Lions may have had to bring him back to the practice squad.

Lions Get Big Return

The Lions got another big boost to their wide receiving corps this week when third-year player Jameson Williams returned from a two-game suspension for violating the league’s rules against performance-enhancing drugs.

Williams caught three of his five targets for 53 yards on Sunday, helping the Lions score 19 unanswered points in a thrilling 26-23 win over the Houston Texans.

The former first-round pick said he learned a lot from his time away from the team.

“What have I learned?” Williams said last week, via the Detroit Free Press. “Just to be smarter, I guess. Move smarter. Be a bigger person in certain situations and things like that. So I would say those would be the main, big things.”

Williams has enjoyed the continued support of the franchise and head coach Dan Campbell through three turbulent seasons, which included two separate suspensions. Campbell said last week that he’s confident Williams will grow from the latest suspension.

“I think any time you don’t get to play this game I think you’ll always reflect and it just helps you to look at it — different vantage point,” Campbell said. “Because it hurts, it hurts not to play, and when you don’t have anybody to blame but yourself, it makes you look at yourself a little bit harder. And so, he’ll be fine, I really believe that, and I do believe he’ll learn from it. I think he — I mean, he was just out there today, in our walk-through we had. He’s locked and ready to go, so I think he’s going to come right out of this on top.”