Nate Burleson says he’s ahead of schedule

Detroit Lions wide receiver Nate Burleson (13) runs with ball as Washington Redskins safety Brandon Meriweather (31) defends during the first half at FedEX Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Detroit Lions WR Nate Burleson stated that he’s ahead of schedule with his broken arm injury, which is certainly good news for fantasy owners of the Lions No. 2 wideout. Ryan Broyles has been operating as the Lions No. 2 wide receiver with Burleson out, and he barely made a statistical impact last week against the Chicago Bears. Most of us thought Broyles would be fantasy gold, but he only received one look whilst mostly playing in the slot. Kris Durham and Brandon Pettigrew took away the targets from Broyles, who was catch-less on Sunday and has just three receptions on two appearances this year.

Nate Burleson said, via the Detroit Free Press’s Dave Birkett, “I’ve gotten some good news, but I’m not going to speak about that. I don’t want to get yelled at by Coach (Jim) Schwartz, but what was told to me is that what it typically takes to get back, I’ll be back sooner than that. So I’ll let you all do your research and figure that out. Work the numbers on that yourself.”

Burleson, of course, injured his arm in the weirdest of circumstances, as he was distracted by a falling slice of pizza whilst also having pizza already in his hand. He’s lucky that the car accident wasn’t worse, and it’s also great to hear that he’s received “some good news” on the injury front.

Lions head coach Jim Schwartz has been predictably doing everything he can to not tip his hand, so the exact status of the Lions No. 2 wideout will probably be left unknown. However, it sounds like he will be back sooner than the initial six-to-eight-week timeline, and his goal is to be able to play in the rivalry game against the Chicago Bears following the bye week. If you ask me, I think he’ll back by then, and the Lions will certainly benefit from having a receiver who was averaging 80 yards per game back in the fold (that should also have a very positive effect on Calvin Johnson).

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