Lions place Ben Graham on injured reserve, sign Nick Harris

After leaving Sunday's loss to Tennessee with a serious calf injury, Detroit Lions starting punter Ben Graham was officially placed on the team's season-ending injured list on Tuesday as reported by Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com.

To assume Graham's starting role for the remainder of the year, the Lions brought back a familiar face in 34-year-old punter Nick Harris, a man who played in Detroit for eight seasons from 2003-10. Harris' career punting average is slightly higher than Graham's mark through three games this season (42.5 yards to 41.3), although the former Lion has yet to kick in a game in 2012 after being released by Carolina last month.

Forced to take double duty as Detroit's punter and kicker against the Tennessee Titans due to Graham's injury, Lions kicker Jason Hanson made it fully clear to the Detroit Free Press that he has virtually no interest in punting long term. And while Hanson will remain the team's backup punter in emergency situations, the addition of a familiar face like Harris should help to ease the transition on special teams.

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