Chris McCosky/ The Detroit News
Allen Park— Lions coach Jim Schwartz visited with Jerome Harrison Friday morning, hours before the running back was scheduled to undergo surgery to remove a tumor from his brain.
“He was in very good spirits,” Schwartz said.
Cornerback Eric Wright, who played with Harrison in Cleveland before the two rejoined in Detroit, saw him at the hospital Thursday night and said the same thing.
“This dude got me rolling right now,” Wright wrote on his Twitter page. “Smh he gone be juusst fine.”
The Lions officially put Harrison on the non-football injured list Friday and signed former Eagles running back Eldra Buckley, who had worked out for the Lions on Thursday.
“Hopefully I can do something to help this team,” said Buckley, who is 26. “I am going to try to do everything they ask. I will try to be any kind of back they need.”
After spending two seasons on the Chargers’ practice squad, Buckley carried the ball 36 times for 111 yards in two seasons in Philadelphia.
“He’s a hard runner and he was productive on special teams in Philly,” Schwartz said. “He’s strong and quick; a young player who has some NFL experience.”
Maurice Morris will start. He and Keiland Williams will shoulder most of the load Sunday, but Schwartz said
Buckley would be active.
“We won’t run out of ballcarriers,” he said.