Lions losing John Cominsky is more impactful than people think

The Lions losing DL John Cominsky to injury is more impactful than people think, and Russell Brown explains why

During the Tuesday morning practice this week, the Detroit Lions had multiple players suffer injuries. Rookie CB Ennis Rakestraw suffered an apparent foot injury, and offensive guard Netane Muti went down with a left shoulder injury. Lastly, they lost defensive end John Cominsky for the season due to a torn MCL.

There’s some hope that Cominsky could return in 5 or 6 months. If all goes right this season, the Lions could be in a playoff push so the return of Cominsky could be very beneficial for this Lions defense. However, losing him for the season is going to be more impactful than people think.

Last year during the off-season, the Lions were faced with a decision of keeping Cominsky or letting him walk. During that time, I went over the pros and cons of bringing him back to Detroit. In that article, I mentioned Cominsky as being a “glue guy” for the team. Specifically for the defense.

The Lions have a young defensive front with Alim McNeill, Aidan Hutchinson, Levi Onwuzurike and others. With that, they needed a veteran to lead them and turn to when the going got tough and that player was Cominsky. In 2022, he played in 14 games and started 8 of those games. He had 44 total pressures and over 550 defensive snaps played that season.

Cominsky may not light up the stat sheet, but his versatility will be missed. He can play anywhere along the defensive line. For the most part, he looks best suited to play as a 4i-technique for Detroit, but he can bump into the inside shoulder of a guard when needed.

Move onto last season and it was still a strong showing for Cominsky. He was in the top 10 for defensive snaps with 569 snaps played. Replacing the way he plays on those snaps will be tough to do for the Lions defense.

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His play style fits the identity of the Dan Campbell led Lions. He’s got that tough mentality and is just a grinder in the trenches. His ability to take on blocks and fight pressure with pressure is very beneficial to how the Lions linebackers can play freely. It leaves those backers clean as they scrape over the top or attack downhill to stop the run.

Last season, Cominsky played in 16 games and he started 11 of those games. He finished the season with 36 tackles, 16 QB pressures and two sacks (per PlayerProfiler). We’ll see how the Lions replace Cominsky but I’d have to guess this opens the door players such as Mathieu Betts, Kyle Peko, Mekhi Wingo and Brodric Martin. Hopefully, the Lions depth on the defensive line can help fill the void.