Lions' Ansah (shoulder) active for first time since Week 1

Detroit Lions defensive end Ezekiel Ansah will return to the field on Sunday for the first time since the team's season opener. Ansah, who has been sidelined with a shoulder injury, is active for the Lions' road game against the Minnesota Vikings. The Lions placed the franchise tag in April on Ansah, who is playing on a one-year contract that is worth $17.1 million. Ansah, who was the fifth overall pick of the 2013 NFL Draft, collected 30 sacks over his first three seasons -- including a career-high 14.5 in 2015. The 6-foot-5, 275-pound Ansah saw his production dip to 2.0 sacks in 2016 as he dealt with a high ankle sprain that hampered him throughout the season. Ansah bounced back to register 12.0 sacks in 2017 even though he was also hampered by a knee injury that led surgery in the offseason. The 29-year-old Ansah has four tackles and a sack on just 19 snaps this season. The Lions (3-4) are one game behind the first-place Chicago Bears in the tightly bunched NFC North. Aside from the 48-17 shellacking in the opener by the New York Jets, the defense has held up fairly well without Ansah, ranking seventh in the league with 23.0 sacks. Detroit also listed running back Ameer Abdullah, linebackers Jalen Reeves-Maybin and Kelvin Sheppard, defensive linemen Kerry Hyder and Eric Lee, offensive linemen Joe Dahl and Andrew Donnal as inactive.