Wide receiver Calvin Johnson returned to practice on Tuesday, and although he was limited, it was a sigh of relief to a team with an injury-plagued receiving core.

Johnson's thumb injury, which forced him out of action on Monday, was deemed a sprain. He wore a cast during a bevy of team workouts.

Johnson, Bryant Johnson, John Standeford, and Dennis Northcutt have all missed practice with injuries. None, however, are considered serious.

"He ran significantly," said head coach Jim Schwartz. "You see all those receivers out there running; take the pads out for individual and go though some stuff that they can go through. I mean, when you’re a wide receiver, part of the job description is catching the ball, but they’ve all been really good about doing whatever they can without catching the ball.

"So we’ll continue in that frame with him and when he’s healed up and when it’s not going to aggravate his thumb anymore, then we get him out. But we don’t have that easing back into practice like some of these others; his feet, his legs, his hips, calves all that stuff stays in shape. When he comes out he can compete right away.