Lions' Jason Hanson Placed On Injured Reserve

On Thursday, the Lions ended Jason Hanson's 2010 season by placing him on injured reserve. The move comes nearly a month after Hanson injured his knee against the Jets when an opposing player rolled on his leg after a field goal. The inadvertent move resulted in a penalty that led to a Lions touchdown, but it has kept Hanson out ever since. Originally it sounded like he was gearing up to return on Thanksgiving, but that did not happen and now we won't see him again until 2011.

Surgery won't be necessary to repair Hanson's injury. Right now the problem is that the kicking motion results in great pain and his knee just needs time to heal. This move gives Hanson a head start on getting back to full health this offseason in anticipation of his 20th year in the NFL. Although the end of this season was discouraging, it serves as motivation to come back even stronger in 2011.

"I feel like I can still kick," Hanson said. "You don't get to pick to your ending, but I don't feel satisfied finishing like this. So I'll do whatever it takes to make an effort to be at my best form next year and try it again."

To fill Hanson's spot on the roster, the Lions signed cornerback Tye Hill. Kicker Dave Rayner was signed the week after Hanson suffered this injury, and it is expected that he will continue to be the Lions' kicker the rest of the season.

Lions Release Cornerback Jonathan Wade

To make room on the roster for kicker Dave Rayner, the Lions released cornerback Jonathan Wade. Wade signed with the Lions last offseason and started out the regular season as a starter. He was expected to be a big part of the Lions' revamped secondary and early on that seemed to be the case.

Once the season actually started, however, Wade's struggles began. He just was not playing well and ended up losing his starting job to Alphonso Smith, who has been a very pleasant surprise for Detroit. Wade's playing time was reduced dramatically as a result and the Lions decided to part ways with him this week. Depth at cornerback isn't great, but Wade became expendable with guys like Smith and Chris Houston playing so well.

The cornerbacks now on the roster for the Lions are Houston, Smith, Nathan Vasher and Brandon McDonald.

Lions Will Sign Former MSU Kicker Dave Rayner To Replace Jason Hanson

The Lions tried out kickers today to determine who would replace the injured Jason Hanson and, according to The Detroit Free Press, Dave Rayner has won the job. 

Former Michigan State kicker Dave Rayner said he will sign with the Lions this afternoon as a replacement for Jason Hanson. Rayner won a kicking battle with Shaun Suisham today.

Rayner spent the 2008 preseason with the Lions and last kicked in the regular season that year with the Bengals, making his only attempt from 26 yards.

Rayner has big kicking shoes to fill, but should be a welcome addition considering he's a former Michigan State Spartan. On second thought, Spartans haven't been very kind to the Lions recently -- Julian Peterson was flagged for that stupid late hit on Sunday, Drew Stanton made an errant throw on a play the Lions should've ran the ball and Paul Edinger's late field goal to keep the Lions out of the 2000 playoffs still gives me nightmares. And it's hard to forget Charles Rogers when he keeps popping up in police reports every few months, even though we try. I digress.

There's no timetable on Hanson's injury, but it's possible that he winds up on the injured reserve. If that's the case, you could very well be looking at the Lions kicker for the next eight weeks. Welcome aboard, Mr. Rayner.