D.J. Reader out for Detroit Lions' Week 1 game against Los Angeles Rams

The Detroit Lions are erring on the side of caution with their biggest free agent addition of the offseason.

Defensive tackle D.J. Reader is inactive for the Lions' season-opener Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams.

Reader missed all of training camp while rehabbing from a torn quad tendon and was a limited participant in practice this week. Lions coach Dan Campbell said the team was targeting a Week 2 return for Reader, but kept the door open for him to play against the Rams when asked about his availability Friday.

"He looked pretty good," Campbell said. "Now it’s just a matter of, all right, if he plays, how many (snaps) can he play? And by doing that, does that — will he have the ability to get a little bit more next week or is it just a setback or we’re just kind of even right now, which that’ll be a lot of talking to (director of player performance Brett Fischer) and (director of sports performance) Mike Clark and then certainly Reader himself to see where we’re at."

The Lions added insurance at defensive tackle Saturday , signing Chris Smith from the practice squad to the 53-man roster and elevating defensive tackle Kyle Peko to their gameday roster.

Along with Reader, safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, defensive end James Houston, safety Loren Strickland, linebacker Trevor Nowaske, guard Colby Sorsdal and offensive tackle Gio Manu also are inactive for the Lions.

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, "Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline." Preorder it now from Reedy Press .

Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: D.J. Reader out for Detroit Lions' Week 1 game against Los Angeles Rams