Louis Delmas has missed 13 games over the past two seasons with multiple knee injuries. Delmas visited the San Francisco 49ers and St. Louis Rams before signing a two-year deal to remain in Detroit. The majority of Delmas' salary hinges on his ability to stay healthy. That is why the Lions are considering limiting Delmas during practices this season to make sure he is physically ready on game day. "We talk a lot about him being a smart football player and that obviously helps (if he can't practice)," Lions general manager Martin Mayhew said. "But in an ideal world, he is, like Jim (Schwartz) says, he's in the general population. He does what everybody else does. But if he needs to be managed, he's a guy who can handle that." The Lions are optimistic Delmas and safety Glover Quin, who previously played for the Houston Texas, have an instant impact this season. "I was really, really happy to get Delmas back," Schwartz said. "A leader on our defense, a guy when he's on the field for us is a difference maker. I think I've said a lot of times when we're good on defense it's because we play with Lou Delmas' personality. We missed him on the field last year. We missed him at practice. We missed his energy. We missed his range to make plays to overlap. You guys saw what a difference it was when he came back for the Philly game. It was a shot in the arm. Not just making tackles, and things like that, but making interceptions and knocking passes down. That excitement was contagious. "It was really important to get him back. We know exactly what we have in him. The biggest thing is him being healthy enough to stay on the field for us. I think that was one of the advantages of him coming back to us is we can try to help him manage through that. It's not like he's coming to a new locker room trying to prove himself all over again, or trying to learn a system. We need him on the practice field more than he was last year for sure, but we can help facilitate that." Source: MLive.com
