Kennedy signed a reserve/future contract with the Lions on Tuesday, Justin Rogers of The Detroit News reports.
Kennedy was injured during training camp with Detroit, but after being waived with an injury settlement, he found his way back to the organization in November as a member of the practice squad. The 27-year-old has played in 20 career games -- all with the Lions -- and has recorded 14 catches for 195 yards on 25 targets.
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Tom Kennedy: Links back up with Detroit
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Kennedy signed with the Lions' practice squad Wednesday.
Kennedy suffered an injury during training camp, which ended his time in Detroit. Now healthy, the 27-year-old has been brought back into the fold after spending parts of each of the last three seasons with the team.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Reverts to injured reserve
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Kennedy (upper body) reverted to Detroit's injured reserve Saturday, Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reports.
Kennedy was waived with an injury designation Friday after suffering an upper body issue in Wednesday's practice, though the specifics of this injury are still unclear. Barring any injury settlement, the 5-foot-10 wideout will now be forced to sit out the entirety of the 2023 campaign.
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Tom Kennedy: Waived with injury designation
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Kennedy (upper body) was waived with an injury designation by the Lions on Friday, Tim Twentyman of the team's official site reports.
Kennedy sustained the injury in practice Wednesday when linebacker Jack Campbell fell on him as Kennedy was trying to complete a catch while going to the ground. Twentyman believes Kennedy could return to the team once healthy, but Detroit wanted to free up a roster spot in the meantime to sign fellow wide receiver Trey Quinn.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Lands reserve/future contract
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The Lions signed Kennedy to a reserve/future contract Monday, Tim Twentyman of the team's official site reports.
Kennedy accumulated the best stat line of his career over seven games with Detroit this season, catching eight of 15 targets for 141 yards. The 26-year-old has now appeared in 19 regular-season games over the last two years with the Lions, so it's not surprising to see the team wants to keep him around heading into the offseason. Kennedy will look to carve out a bigger role among this well-stocked receiving corps heading into the 2023 campaign.
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Tom Kennedy: Sticking with Detroit
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The Lions re-signed Kennedy to the practice squad Monday, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network reports.
Kennedy was ruled a healthy scratch in back-to-back weeks before he was waived Saturday ahead of Sunday's win over the Jets. However, the 26-year-old cleared waivers Monday and will return to the Lions' practice squad, where he spent the first four weeks of the season. Kennedy has caught eight of 15 targets for 141 yards over seven games this season, and he should be first in line to be elevated from the practice squad should any of Detroit's wideouts miss time due to injury moving forward.
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Tom Kennedy: Waived Saturday
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Kennedy was waived by the Lions on Saturday, Jeff Risdon of USA Today reports.
Kennedy appeared in seven games for the Lions this year, catching eight of his 15 targets for 141 yards. Kennedy has not played in either of the past two games, as he found himself buried in the depth chart after Jameson Williams (knee) made his debut.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Remains out
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Kennedy (coach's decision) is inactive Sunday against the Vikings.
Kennedy will sit for the second consecutive week, as the 26-year-old has dropped on the team's positional depth chart upon the activation of Jameson Williams to the 53-man roster. He'll work to earn another chance with the active roster Week 15 against the Jets.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Not suiting up Sunday
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Kennedy (coach's decision) is officially inactive for Sunday's game versus Jacksonville.
Kennedy was active the past four games and had three catches for 73 yards during that stretch, but he won't be suiting up for Sunday's contest. Detroit finally has its full complement of top receivers with rookie Jameson Williams (knee) active and poised to make his NFL debut.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Sets up game-winning touchdown
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Kennedy caught one of two targets for 44 yards during Sunday's 31-30 win over the Bears.
Kennedy didn't do any damage until there were less than four minutes left in the fourth quarter, when the wideout hauled in a pass on third-and-8 and turned it into a 44-yard gain that set up Detroit's game-winning touchdown. Kennedy has appeared in five games in 2022 but has yet to produce a big stat line despite seeing at least 50 percent of the snaps per contest. Even if Josh Reynolds (back) continues to miss time, Kennedy will not be worthy of much fantasy consideration.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Likely to serve as No. 3 receiver
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Kennedy is expected to retain a role as the Lions' No. 3 receiver in Sunday's game against the Bears with Josh Reynolds (back) ruled out for a second consecutive contest, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.
During last week's 15-9 win over the Packers, the Lions were without Reynolds and played their first game since trading away top tight end T.J. Hockenson. The absences of Reynolds and Hockenson created opportunities for Kennedy and multiple other pass catchers to step into expanded roles behind No. 1 target Amon-Ra St. Brown, but none was able to deliver a notable fantasy performance. Kennedy ended up serving as the No. 3 wideout behind St. Brown and Kalif Raymond and was on the field for 67 percent of Detroit's offensive snaps, but he finished with a 1-16-0 receiving line on four targets. Kennedy could be headed for a similar snap share and target count once again in Week 10, but he can't be counted on to turn in useful numbers.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Signed to active roster
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The Lions signed Kennedy to the active roster from their practice squad Wednesday.
With Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) and DJ Chark (ankle) both ruled out, Kennedy was elevated to the active roster for the team's Week 4 loss to the Seahawks. Quintez Cephus (foot) had to leave the game early, so Kennedy ended up handling a significant workload, catching three of five targets for 54 yards. The statuses of St. Brown, Chark and Cephus for Week 5 remain unclear, but Detroit will add Kennedy to its active roster as insurance and will be confident thrusting him into game action after his solid performance against Seattle.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Joins amidst injuries
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Kennedy was elevated to the Lions' active roster Saturday.
The Lions announced DJ Chark (ankle) would be unavailable Saturday as the wide receiver joins an alarmingly long list of Lions star players unable to suit up for Sunday's contest. Kennedy had some fun moments toward the end of the 2021 season, including three separate games with at least two targets, but expect the slot receiver to factor in sparingly with Josh Reynolds (ankle), Kalif Raymond and Quintez Cephus soaking up the majority of the wide receiver snaps.
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Tom Kennedy: Gets practice squad chance
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The Lions signed Kennedy to the practice squad Wednesday, Tim Twentyman of the team's official site reports.
Kennedy's strong preseason with Detroit earns him a chance to continue developing with the team. He suited up for 12 games with the Lions last season, in which span he secured six of 10 targets for 54 yards.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Comes back to Earth
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Kennedy caught three of six targets for 15 yards during Sunday's 19-9 loss to the Steelers.
Kennedy again saw plenty of volume, so his relatively low production was disappointing after he racked up both a 100-yard and a multi-touchdown game in Weeks 1 and 2 of the preseason, respectively. While he's a candidate to survive roster cuts nonetheless, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, Kennedy presumably would be entering the year buried on the depth chart and will need to impress in order to stick around once Jameson Williams (knee) is ready to go.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Keeps rolling with two TDs
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Kennedy caught five of seven targets for 24 yards and two touchdowns in Saturday's 27-26 preseason win over the Colts.
Kennedy scored from five yards out on the final play of the first half and found the end zone again on a 10-yard catch in the third quarter. Between this effort and his 104-yard outing against Atlanta in the preseason opener, Kennedy has certainly bolstered his chances of making the Lions' roster. He'll get one more chance to make his case when the Lions travel to Pittsburgh on Aug. 28 for their preseason finale.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Tops century mark
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Kennedy racked up 104 yards on eight receptions during Friday's preseason game against Atlanta.
Kennedy saw over three quarters of action thanks to the absences of Quintez Cephus (leg) and Josh Johnson (undisclosed). While the 26-year-old Bryant product still sits on the roster bubble, Kennedy could not have made a better case for a back-end roster spot as Detroit assesses its backups in the continued absence of Jameson Williams (knee) - especially given the lack of depth at slot receiver behind Amon-Ra St. Brown. It is possible that Kennedy could again see considerable snaps in the next exhibition game Aug. 20 in Indianapolis depending on the health of his teammates.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Throws long TD in season finale
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Kennedy caught two of two targets for 16 yards while completing his only pass for 75 yards and one touchdown during Sunday's 37-30 win over Green Bay.
Kennedy finished a distant fourth among Lions receivers in offensive snaps but made his mark on a trick play when he hit Kalif Raymond for a long touchdown pass in the first quarter. However, the 5-foot-10 slot receiver didn't do much else, and he will finish the 2021 campaign with six catches on 10 targets for 54 receiving yards. The soon-to-be exclusive-rights free agent will now enter the offseason with a decent chance to return to a depth role for Detroit in 2022.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: No catches on three targets
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Kennedy saw three targets but did not record a catch during Sunday's 51-29 loss to Seattle.
Kennedy was in line for an expanded role with both Kalif Raymond and Josh Reynolds on the COVID-19 list. While he logged a season-high 24 offensive snaps, Kennedy clearly was the fourth receiver behind Amon-Ra St. Brown, KhaDarel Hodge and Trinity Benson. With his playing time only set to decrease should Raymond or Reynolds gain medical clearance in the coming week, Kennedy will not be an advisable fantasy option when Detroit hosts Green Bay in Week 18.
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Lions' Tom Kennedy: Expanded role likely awaits
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Kennedy is expected to see an increased role within Detroit's receiving corps Sunday against the Seahawks with both Josh Reynolds (illness) and Kalif Raymond (illness) on the reserve/COVID-19 list, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.
No. 1 wideout Amon-Ra St. Brown and running backs D'Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams are probably the safest bets to earn targets from quarterback Tim Boyle, but the likes of Kennedy, KhaDarel Hodge, Trinity Benson and Javon McKinley could all see increased snaps with two starting receivers out of the lineup. Kennedy led the quartet with a 31 percent snap share and two targets in the Week 16 loss to Atlanta, so he's probably the most likely candidate of that group to produce a useful stat line.
