Wide receiver Titus Young will be inactive for the Detroit Lions’ Thanksgiving Day home game against the Houston Texans after being sent home from the team’s facility Monday.
Young was benched for the team’s final three plays during Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers, and head coach Jim Schwartz said the second-year wide receiver’s actions during the game negatively affected the team.
“It’s your job to make the team happy,” Schwartz said. “It’s not the team’s job to make you happy.”
Young lined up in the wrong spot on a second-down play in the red zone during the Packers game, and the Detroit News’ Chris McCosky tweeted that Young will be inactive Thursday “largely because of his whining, pouting, sulking about not getting more balls thrown to him.”
Wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan were seen arguing after Young was benched Sunday. He had been the target of two of the four incomplete passes on the Lions’ second-to-last drive.
“The thing about it is they were both on the same side of the argument,” Schwartz said. “But in the heat of the moment, they ended up missing that fact.”
Young has been starting since the season-ending knee injury to Nate Burleson last month, and is third on the Lions with 33 receptions for 383 yards and a team-high four touchdowns.
His absence will mean increased snaps for rookie Ryan Broyles and recently-acquired veteran Mike Thomas.