Lions Lowdown

ALLEN PARK >> With the roster cut deadline approaching at 4 p.m. on Saturday, the Lions remain in evaluation mode.

The signed veteran defensive end Robert Ayers on Monday. Ayers, who will turn 33 on Sept. 6, spent the past two seasons with the Tampa Bay Bucs where he played in a dozen games with 10 starts. Ayers was a first-round pick in 2009 by the Broncos. Will be interesting to see if he has much left. He practiced on Monday. Would expect to see him in Thursday night’s game against the Browns at Ford Field. He wears No. 90.

Other news:

— Tight end Luke Willson was on the field for stretches on Monday morning but did not appear in the portion of practice open to the media. Naturally Matt Patricia would not comment on Willson at his press conference just prior to practice. Willson was injured in Friday night’s game and could not finish.

— Right guard T.J. Lang was back at practice, but center Graham Glasgow was not. Glasgow was working on his own on the sidelines.

— Linebacker Eli Harold, who was acquired in a trade with the 49ers on Thursday, was also on the field for Monday’s practice wearing No. 51. “This is a guy who’s got great leverage. He’s really long (6-foot-3), does a good job with his punch and his strike, and you can really kind of see him use that leverage to his ability especially out on the edge,’’ Patricia said on Monday. “Now he’s also a really good—showing some flashes in the pass rush game, too, which is positive from that standpoint. So, we’ll see what that looks like when we get him in.’’

— The battle for the Lions’ backup quarterback is ongoing between Jake Rudock and Matt Cassel. Patricia would only say they are still in evaluation mode like at every position. They should split time during the final preseason game on Thursday. Rudock was Matthew Stafford’s backup last season and played in three games, completing three of five passes and throwing for an interception. Cassel, 36, enters his 14th NFL season after spending the past two seasons with the Tennessee Titans. He knows Patricia after spending his first four NFL seasons with the New England Patriots.

When the Detroit Lions take the field at Tampa Bay on Friday night for their third preseason game, it will be as close to a regular season game as they will see.

Call it a dress rehearsal or whatever. The starters could play most of the first half.

So far the Lions are 0-2 under new coach Matt Patricia and have been outscored 46-27. Detroit’s defense stands out as the only unit in the NFL that has not sacked an opposing quarterback. Even so, Patricia says he’s worried more about evaluation than statistics at this point.

Five players to watch:

— Defensive tackle A’Shawn Robinson has been quiet the first two games. He was a starter last year for all 16 games but finished with just half a sack. Patricia is not about last year, he’s a more of a what-can-you-do-for-me-now kind of coach. Robinson started the preseason game at the Raiders (playing in 47 percent of the defensive snaps) but Ricky Jean Francois got the start in the second game against the Giants.

— Whoever plays right guard. It’s likely to be Kenny Wiggins (who started against the Giants) or Joe Dahl (who started at the Raiders). T.J. Lang expects to be ready for the regular season opener, but is proceeding cautiously with an unknown injury. If caution is the plan, he will definitely sit rather than match up with the Bucs defensive tackle Gerald McCoy. This is a big game for Wiggins and Dahl. If Lang is not ready to go, or gets injured during the season, Patricia wants to find the guy he would be most comfortable with.

— Linebacker Miles Killebrew has made the switch from safety. Patricia seems to like him, so look for him to get some quality playing time. The coach isn’t worried that Killebrew is too small for linebacker. “Miles plays very strong. This guy is really strong, he’s packed like —he can handle himself down in there from that standpoint,’’ Patricia said. The coach also said he likes how Killebrew plays close to the ball. Killebrew’s special teams play should help him lock down a roster spot, but a good showing in Tampa wouldn’t hurt.

— Running back Dwayne Washington has not played in the first two games. Not sure why he’s still on the roster if they don’t think he has a shot at one of the running back spots on the 53-man roster. Typically preseason games are huge for guys on the bubble like Robinson. Of course, Theo Riddick, Kerryon Johnson and LeGarrette Blount are locks along with Ameer Abdullah who has seen plenty of offseason work. It’s a bit of a mystery how Patricia has dealt out playing time to the running backs. And that’s probably just how the coach likes it.

— Defensive end Ricky Jean Francois was fired up after Friday’s loss at Ford Field. He didn’t think the defense put its best on the field and he was not happy. The 30-year-old Francois, who played with the Patriots last season, could be a great leader on the defensive line. But this week Patricia said he has work to do. Let’s see if he can get that done because the line could really use a veteran leader.

ALLEN PARK >> Lions right guard T.J. Lang has been held out of the first two preseason games and much of training camp.

His injury remains a mystery, but he said his goal is still to play against the N.Y. Jets in the season opener on Sept. 10.

“All I can really say is there’s nothing serious going on, I’m being cautious with the training staff — trainers, doctors — my plan this year right now is to take it day by day, get healthy and do my best to get out there for Week 1 which I think is definitely the goal right now,’’ the 30-year-old Lang said on Wednesday.

Lang, who played in 13 games last season, said earlier this offseason it was the best he had felt in a long time. So obviously it’s a little frustrating for him now.

“Luckily for me I’m in a spot where there aren’t any drastic changes just the point where we are in the preseason and training camp I think it’s more caution than anything,’’ Lang said. “I think if it was regular season right now I”d be out here doing everything.’’

He doesn’t seem too concerned about the chemistry with right tackle Rick Wagner and center Graham Glasgow.

“I’ve played a lot of football with Rick and Graham so I think we do our best to kind of simulate what we do on the field in the meetings and the walk-throughs and things like that,’’ Lang said. “We do a good job of communicating even when I’m out there.’’

Coach Matt Patricia turned the tables when asked if it was harder to judge the chemistry on the offensive line with Lang not participating.

“I would say, actually, it’s a great opportunity for us to get a look at a couple of different situations and put some guys in some different spots. Whenever we have somebody that’s not practicing — it doesn’t matter if it’s the offensive line or the secondary or whatever it is, those are all just opportunities for other guys to have reps and to move some people around. Which, we’re going to have to do in order to play during the season,’’ Patricia said on Tuesday.

“You’re going to have to have guys that can play in different positions. And again, now is the opportunity to get a look at that. We can go out and practice at a high level every single day to compete — you get a better feel for those guys than really trying to wait until something happens Week 6, where now you’re trying to find out if a guy can switch positions,’’ Patricia said.

Lang was signed as a free agent in the spring of 2017 when he was coming off hip surgery. He had missed only nine games in eight seasons with the Green Bay Packers.

The Lions play their third preseason game at the Tampa Bay Bucs at 8 p.m. on Friday.