ALLEN PARK — Rookie defensive tackle Sammie Hill, who wears No. 79,  practiced for the second straight day after missing the last three games with a high ankle sprain. He could be back in the starting lineup on Sunday when the Lions play the winless St. Louis Rams at Ford Field.

Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham can’t wait.

"That’s like a long, lost girlfriend. Everybody got beat up and I kept looking at 79,’’ Cunningham said. “Every day I wanted him to practice and I knew he couldn’t.’’

Cunningham said Hill looked good in practice today and Tuesday.

For more on Hill and the Lions defense see Thursday’s Oakland Press. — PAULA PASCHE