When the Lions left their practice facility Friday, Ricardo Silva was a practice squad safety making a minimum of $5,700 per week for his role as a scout team player.
Just 48 hours later, Silva will start for Detroit in what is as close to a must-win game as a team with playoff aspirations can have in Week 4.
Detroit announced that Silva was given the start over John Wendling when the team released its inactives 90 minutes before Sunday’s game. Wendling started Detroit’s first three games, but he struggled in pass coverage. Silva doesn’t have Wendling’s years of experience, but he has the speed necessary to effectively cover slot receivers. He was elevated from the practice squad after Amari Spievey suffered a groin injury during Friday’s workout. Spievey worked with Lions’ trainers in early warmups Sunday, but he was inactivated after it was determined he was not healthy enough for game action.
Detroit’s other pregame lineup change doesn’t cast a favorable light on GM Martin Mayhew’s draft strategy. DT Sammie Hill will start for injured veteran Corey Williams (knee). On its merits, the decision to start Hill over 2011 first-round pick Nick Fairley is the right one. Hill has been a much more consistent player than Fairley all season, and defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, who doesn’t often criticize specific players in public, called Fairley’s 2012 performance inconsistent during his weekly press conference on Friday.
The fact that Fairley’s play and fitness levels aren’t good enough to beat out Hill for a starting spot is an issue, given that the Lions used the 13th overall pick last year to select him despite obvious needs at other positions. Detroit has just three healthy DTs on the roster for the Vikings game, so Fairley will still likely see significant snaps, but the decision not to start him sends the message that he has work to do to become the player Detroit envisioned he would be.
Follow Lions reporter John Kreger on Twitter at @CBSLions and @JohnKreger.
