On Wednesday, the trade of Detroit Lion Jerome Harrison for Philadelphia Eagles’ Ronny Brown was voided after an Eagles’ doctor discovered Harrison has a brain tumor.

Harrison’s disease became public information after Detroit Lion’s offensive coordinator Scott Linehan’s son made a post about it via Twitter.  The Detroit Lion’s coaching staff hesitated to give out any more information due to the seriousness of the disease. Eagles’ doctors have predicted that Harrison will make a full recovery and be able to return to football.  He has been ruled out of the lineup for the rest of the season.

Harrison’s illness puts the Lions in a hole as far as their running game goes.  With him being out, and Jahvid Best recently suffering a concussion, the Lions are now down to only two running backs on their depth chart.  Maurice Morris and Keiland Williams will be seeing a lot more playing time in the backfield. The Lions also have kick return specialist Stefan Logan as an option at running back.  Other than returning kick offs and punts, Logan’s playing time has been limited as a Lion.  However, coach Jim Schwartz has put him at running back before because of his incredible speed.  Seeing Logan in the backfield has thrown off opponent’s defenses, and Logan has taken advantage of it.  The Lion’s running game has struggled this year, so Jim Schwartz is definitely desperate to find someone to step up and have a big game.

The Lions’ upcoming game against the Falcons is most definitely a time for one of the back up running backs to impress Schwartz.  Coming into Sunday, the Falcons defense is ranked 17 of 32 in ESPN’s Fantasy Football rankings.  The Falcon’s defense has given up an average of 24.5 points this season. This is a defense that has obviously struggled this year, and it just may help to find the answer the Lions have been looking for all year at running back.  Lions’ safety Chris Houston is a former Falcon, and is obviously very familiar with the Falcon defense.  Houston’s prior knowledge just might lead the Lions to victory this week.