Lions DC Aaron Glenn ‘can’t say’ if Terrion Arnold will start Week One

Back in late April, the Lions emphasized cornerback in the draft. Terrion Arnold, the team’s first rounder from Alabama, was supposed to be able to solve some of the secondary issues. Now, it’s unclear whether he’ll be ready to play in the first game.

Arnold suffered a chest injury during Monday’s practice. By Wednesday, he was with the rehab group as the rest of his healthier teammates were practicing. Before this week, Arnold appeared to be a certain starter at cornerback. Now, it’s not clear whether he’ll be healed in time for the regular-season opener, Sept. 8, against the Rams. It’s really not even certain if he’s out for this weekend’s preseason game against the Chiefs. Still, the Lions listed Arnold as a first teamer in this week’s unofficial depth chart.

Reporters asked Aaron Glenn, the Lions defensive coordinator, if Arnold will still be in the starting lineup for the first game. It’s a valid question since the young corner could miss a huge chunk of training camp because of the injury to his pectoral. Glenn, a former All-American corner at Texas A&M and a first-round draft pick, knows what it requires to play DB in the league.

“From college, we know he can go out there and play man coverage,” Glenn told reporters. “I mean, you go out there and play in any Nick Saban defense (at Alabama), you’ve got to be able to do that, so it kind of compares to what we do. So yeah, we’ve seen enough, but he’s not where he needs to be yet. He has a lot of improving to do, and man, once he comes back from this injury, he’s got to get out there and get on the grind and continue to work.”

The Lions devoted the top part of the draft to their secondary. They picked Arnold at No. 24, then added Missouri defensive back Ennis Rakestraw in the second round. In a bad coincidence for the Lions, both DBs left practice with injuries on the same day. Rakestraw hurt his ankle. By mid-week, the first-team corners at practice were Kindle Vildor and Khalil Dorsey. To add to the secondary woes, safety Brian Branch didn’t practice Wednesday. Cornerback Emmanuel Moseley is out indefinitely.

So Arnold needs to heal up in a hurry. But the Lions are aware of what he can do on the field. Same for Rakestraw.

“Defense is all about attitude and those are the types of guys we try to recruit on this team,” Glenn told reporters. “And you see the different personalities, like you take T.A. T.A. talks a lot, but he has that mentality to go out there and play man coverage. Ennis doesn’t talk a lot, but you see that dog in him. So the thing is, to the core of those guys, they’re the same, but they’re just different personalities. But attitude has everything to do with defense.”