DONE DEAL: THE DETROIT LIONS HAS FINALLY OWNED THE RACE BY SIGNING.

ALLEN PARK — Following his absence from the first practice of the week due to an ankle injury, Bruce Irvin was back at the Detroit Lions. And that means that the 36-year-old pass rusher will now be able to play a bigger part.

During the team’s victory over the New Orleans Saints last week, Irvin made his debut. Even though Irvin only played 11 defensive snaps, his debut in the Honolulu blue was loud and memorable as he recorded a sack and brutally hit Saints quarterback Derek Carr out of the game.

After another week of practice and seeing live reps, Dan Campbell stated that he hopes to incorporate Irvin even more into the mix.

But yes, Campbell stated on Wednesday, “I would say he’s earned that.”

When asked what Irvin and Tyson Alualu, the new defensive tackle who also attended practice on Thursday, bring to the young defense, Aaron Glenn was questioned. Additionally, the defensive coordinator for the Lions mentioned a conversation Irvin had earlier this week with the defense about what it means to play football at a championship level at this time of year.

Glenn remarked, “It’s good to hear those guys’ voices, to hear what they understand this league is about.” “But, dude, I think it’s amazing that guys who are 36 years old are still playing in this league,”

Linebacker Alex Anzalone returned to practice for the second day in a row, which is encouraging news as well. Anzalone was not present for the Saints victory last week. However, after having a screw inserted, the captain appears to be trending in the right direction.

But Frank Ragnow is still nowhere to be found. It’s never good news to move forward without someone like that, even though that shouldn’t come as a surprise. After playing 21 snaps last week, Ragnow suffered a knee injury. Graham Glasgow moved to center, and Colby Sorsdal, a rookie, took over at right guard.

And despite a difficult season of switching around on the offensive line, the Lions are pleased with Sorsdal’s progress.

Offensive Coordinator Ben Johnson stated, “We’ve been cross-training him all training camp and so far this season.” “I believe that if you really looked at it, he may have lined up more on the right side than the left side during that period of time, but he is becoming much more at ease playing interior football. It isn’t really important which side he is on.