After a Week 10 loss to the Chicago Bears, the Detroit Lions added another three players to an already extensive injury report.
In Week 10, the Detroit Lions (3-5-1) were on the wrong end of another one-score game, this time falling to the Chicago Bears, but the scoreboard wasn’t the only place the team lost — as the Lions added another three players to an already extensive injury report.
As the Lions head into Week 11, and a matchup with the Dallas Cowboys, the team needs to get healthy in several key areas.
Here’s what we know about all the team’s current injuries:
The Franchise
QB Matthew Stafford (back, hip)
Stafford’s start streak ended at 136 games due to a fractured bone in his back. Reports have been mixed, suggesting he could recover and return to game action as soon as this week or miss multiple games — ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported a source told him Stafford could be sidelined as few as one and as many as “3 weeks”.
When coach Matt Patricia was asked if Stafford’s fracture could be season-ending, he responded, “For us right now, I’m not getting into the specifics of what it is exactly. It’s day by day, week by week. We’ll see how it goes
from that aspect of it and see how everything just progresses, I guess.”
Not a lot of clarity there.
This fractured bone in his back injury is separate from the injury that required him to have back surgery last offseason and is also not related to his current hip injury that he has been suffering through for over a month now.
With the Lions’ playoff hopes all but shattered, and Stafford dealing with multiple injuries for a significant length of time now, it’s fair to wonder if the team would be better served shutting Stafford down for the season and allowing him to fully heal — Our own Scott Warheit believes they should do just that.
Injured during the game
RB Ty Johnson (concussion)
RT Rick Wagner (concussion)
DT Kevin Strong (rib)
DT Mike Daniels (foot before the game, leg during the game)
DT A’Shawn Robinson (ankle before, thumb during)
CB Darius Slay (hamstring before, toe during)
Johnson and Wagner were ruled out of Sunday’s game and will be in concussion protocol to start the week. The NFL has a five-step recovery protocol that players must pass before they can return to participation. This is an extensive process and typically takes at least a week’s worth of practices to complete if not more.
Strong injured his ribs and exited the game in the second half. He was listed as questionable but I did not see him return to the field on Sunday.
Daniels, Robinson and Slay were all dealing with an injury heading into this game and then suffered new injuries that forced them to leave the field for brief periods of time. Robinson and Slay returned to game action, while Daniels replied to reporters after the game that he was “fine”.
Ruled out before the game
DL Da’Shawn Hand (ankle)
S Tracy Walker (knee)
LB/S Miles Killebrew (concussion)
DE Romeo Okwara (groin)
No updates on these players until the team reports to practice on Wednesday.
Injured heading into the game
RG Graham Glasgow (back)
LG Joe Dahl (ankle)
DT Damon Harrison (groin)
P Sam Martin (abdomen)
All four players in this section were able to play their full complement of snaps on Sunday and expectations are that they will be participants at practice, even if it in a limited fashion.
