Calvin Johnson battles to help Detroit Lions roar in Wembley NFL game

After the increasingly feverish talk of an NFL franchise coming to London – something the Atlanta Falcons owner, Arthur Blank, believes is only six to seven years away – a necessary cold compress: when two of the Detroit Lions star players, the quarterback Matthew Stafford and the wide receiver Calvin Johnson, took a train from the team’s Berkshire base in Sunningdale to Waterloo this week, no one recognised them.

American football is certainly on the march in Britain but it is yet to grab the mainstream by the scruff of its neck. That said, there will be another 84,000 sell-out crowd at Wembley on Sunday for the Lions’ lunchtime game against the Falcons, the second of three NFL matches in London this season, and many hope to see Johnson, one of the sport’s most electric players, in action.

The 6ft 5in Johnson, who broke Jerry Rice’s single-season record for receiving yards when the Lions played Atlanta in December 2012, has the nickname “Megatron” – but his body has been all-too human in recent weeks after sustaining an ankle injury against the Green Bay Packers.

Having missed the Lions’ past two games, Johnson is showing signs of returning. He practised on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, when he ran routes and made cutting plays, and is likely to have a late fitness test on Sunday. For now, he is keeping his cards close to his chest: “I’m just trying to get it right,” he said. “You want to push it, I want to push it, but we’re trying to be smart about it. It’s getting better and better but you don’t want to get to that point where we get a setback.”

With a bye week coming up, the Lions will be tempted to be cautious but Johnson’s return would be a welcome fillip to a Lions offense who could be without their top three tight ends against the Falcons, with Brandon Pettigrew, Joseph Fauria and Eric Ebron missing practice on Friday. However, the running back Reggie Bush insisted he would play at Wembley, despite an ankle problem, and the right tackle LaAdrian Waddle, who suffered a concussion against the New Orleans Saints last Sunday, is also hoping to return.

“It’ll be doctor’s protocol that will make that determination, as well as with the rest of the guys who are on that injury report,” the Lions coach, Jim Caldwell, said. “If not, obviously we have had a couple guys that have had some playing experience there fortunately.”

Caldwell has warned his Lions team, who top the NFC North with a 5-2 record, they must be wary of 2-5 Falcons’ team who have lost their past four games – and especially their kick-off returner Devin Hester, who holds the record for the most special teams touchdowns in a career (20) and the most punt touchdowns (14).

“He’s made it an art form and cut a niche in there like no one else in the game,” he said. “There’s been some great returners in the game, there’s no question about that. Deion Sanders was one of the guys that was dangerous in that regard. Hester is equally so.

“Any time he gets the ball in his hands he’s a threat to go all the way. He’s probably going to the Hall of Fame because he’s a cut above the rest.”