With injuries piling up in their secondary, the Detroit Lions added a veteran defensive back to their practice squad by signing Anthony Averett on Tuesday.

Detroit coach Dan Campbell said on Monday that cornerback Emmanuel Moseley had suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee during the Lions’ 42-24 victory over the Carolina Panthers.

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Detroit already was playing without safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson, who tore a pectoral muscle in the second game of the season. Rookie Brian Branch, who has been manning the slot-corner spot, also missed Sunday’s game because of an ankle injury.

Like Branch, Averett is an Alabama alumnus.

Averett was available after being released from the San Francisco 49ers’ injured reserve on Aug. 18 with an injury settlement. Averett had gone on IR with an undisclosed injury on Aug. 11.

Injuries also affected Averett in the 2022 season, when he had two stints on injured reserve with the Las Vegas Raiders.

Averett came out of the season-opening game on Sept. 11 with a broken thumb. He returned on Oct. 23 and had started at cornerback and free safety before going out again after six games because of a broken toe sustained on Nov. 27 in a 40-34 overtime victory against the Seattle Seahawks. He missed the remainder of the season, then stayed in free agency until Aug. 3, when the 49ers signed him.

Averett entered the NFL as a fourth-round selection of the Baltimore Ravens in the 2018 draft.

Averett spent his first three seasons largely as a reserve with the Ravens, with his defensive snaps increasing from 71 in 2018 to 220 in 2019 and 354 in 2020.

Averett moved into a starting role when Marcus Peters got hurt in the second game of the 2021 season. Averett’s performance across 14 starts in Baltimore’s defensive backfield included his three NFL interceptions and earned him a one-year, $4 million contract from Las Vegas in free agency.

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter at @AMarkG1.