The Facts: The Lions have played without Johnson for the last two weeks, but the door will remain open for his return in Week 8 even though the team will be playing a long way from home. The team leaves for London on Monday night to begin their week of preparations for next Sunday’s game against the Falcons and HC Jim Caldwell told reporters, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, that Johnson will be making the trip with the team.

Diehards Line: As PFT's Josh Alper notes, there have been suggestions that the team would hold the wide receiver out until after their Week 9 bye, but that clearly hasn’t been set in stone. Johnson worked out on the field before the team took on the Saints, but his high ankle sprain wasn’t well enough for him to return to action. If he can progress over the next few days and practice with the team later this week, the result may be a different one come Sunday. ... Stay tuned. We'll obviously be covering this one closely.