Detroit Lions wide receiver D.J. Chark (ankle) returned to practice on Thursday.
Chark was ruled out last week after being listed as questionable and he remained idle at Wednesday's practice, but Thursday's return puts him on track to play Week 5 against the New England Patriots. Amon-Ra St. Brown (ankle) is expected to be inactive again on Sunday, so Chark will likely be aksed to step into the No. 1 receiver role. That being said, T.J. Hockenson is still the favorite to dominate targets from Jared Goff. Chark's return could result in fewer opportunities for Kalif Raymond, Josh Reynolds, and Tom Kennedy.
Hock led the Lions with a 34.2% target share in Week 4 with St. Brown and Chark both inactive. Reynolds had an 18.4% target share and Raymond was tied for third at 13.2%. Per numberFire's advanced team metrics, the Patriots have a top-10 pass defense through four weeks of the season.