The Detroit Lions made a couple big roster moves this week, placing starting running back Kerryon Johnson on Reserve/Injured and trading safety Quandre Diggs to the Seattle Seahawks.

"I obviously feel really bad for Kerryon that he is in this situation, but I know he's a tough kid and works really hard, so (I'm) very optimistic about everything going forward," head coach Matt Patricia said Tuesday of Johnson.

"I've been around players before where they've had a lot of injuries early in their careers and setbacks and had nothing for six or seven years after that, so we'll just take them all case by case and we'll just see how it goes."

Rookie running back Ty Johnson, along with J.D. McKissic and Tra Carson, will likely be in line for a bigger role with Kerryon out for at least eight weeks. The team also signed running back Paul Perkins to the active roster from the practice squad.

"If they call my number then I'm ready to go," Ty Johnson said Wednesday. "It could be anyone in the running back room. We have a lot of talented guys in there. It's just one of those things, whoever's number is called we have to be ready to go."

At safety, the Lions could turn to another rookie in third-round pick Will Harris. Harris has done well with the reps he's received so far this season.

"Will obviously played a lot of football for us here through Kansas City and Green Bay, and those are two really, really difficult quarterbacks to play against," Patricia said of Harris. "I think he did a really job of understanding the roles that we needed him, and how we needed him to play.

"I think he has a skill set that we haven't really tapped into yet, too. There are some other things that I think he can do to help us, and we'll see if given that opportunity if he can perform at a high level with that, too. He's an instinctual player, especially when he's down close to the line of scrimmage, so we'll see if he has any opportunity to show us that also."

The team announced Wednesday they signed safety Marcus Gilchrist to fill the roster spot left open by the Diggs trade.

With the trade deadline approaching next week, there could be more roster moves to come for the Lions.

LIONS HOST GIANTS

The New York Giants are in town this weekend for a NFC Matchup at Ford Field Sunday.

Star running back Saquon Barkley is back from an ankle injury, and will be a big test for Detroit's run defense.

"He's an outstanding back," Lions defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni said of Barkley. "They're doing a really fine job of running the ball. They are very, very efficient. They're averaging over 100 yards – about a 105 a game.

"(Barkley's) difficult to tackle. He can hit any gap. So if he runs the ball to the far right, guys are on the left, you still have to understand there is a point of attack and that ball could end up back to the left. So we just have to do a really good job fundamentally. Technique-wise, it always comes down to that. We have to do a good job tackling."

Having Barkley in the backfield should help Giants rookie quarterback Daniel Jones find some consistency on offense.

"I think there are things [Jones] does in each game he improves on in terms of familiarity with the offense, the speed of the game," Giants head coach Pat Shurmur said via conference call. "I still think he's an aggressive thrower."

For Mike O'Hara's full scouting report on the Giants, click here.

OTHER NOTEWORTHY ITEMS

• Click here for the full Lions-Giants injury report with game designations for Sunday's contest.
• In the latest edition of Under the Helmet, Kerryon Johnson talks community outreach, video games and playing running back.
• View photos from the Detroit Lions costume party with Henry Ford Health System for families impacted by cancer
• Catch up on all the news from Darrell Bevell and Paul Pasqualoni's Tuesday media sessions.