ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Don Carey hasn't played in a month, sitting on the sidelines as he let his hamstring heal. It cost him a couple of preseason games.

Cost him the first two games of the 2014 regular season, too. But Carey returned to practice fully Wednesday for the Detroit Lions and perhaps at a much-needed time. The Lions are down two nickel cornerbacks and Carey, besides being a safety, can play there, too.

"Certainly," Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. "He's a guy that has a real good sense of defensive football. He helps you just in terms of balance and experience overall and he's versatile. He can play a number of different spots."

If Carey and James Ihedigbo end up playing Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, it would be the first time this year the Lions would have a full complement of safeties to choose from in a given week along with Glover Quin, Isa Abdul-Quddus and Jerome Couplin.

It also gives Detroit another option in the slot besides Cassius Vaughn, Danny Gorrer and Rashean Mathis, who is also one of the Lions' starting cornerbacks.

Carey, though, is just glad to be back after a frustrating month watching and waiting. Caldwell didn't say Carey would definitively be back, but that he practiced fully Wednesday is a good sign for him making his season debut Sunday.

Last season with Detroit, he played in 14 games, making 19 tackles and forcing a fumble. He also was one of the Lions' special teams stalwarts, playing gunner on punt coverage and lining up on almost every teams unit.

"Any time you see your brothers, your family, I'm with them more than I'm with my wife, any time you see them putting it on the line, giving it all I got and you can't do that with them, that just hurts," Carey said. "So I'm glad to be back. Glad to be back with my guys.

"Hopefully I can help make some plays but we'll see what happens."