Tag: Detroit Lions

New Bears center Cody Whitehair promises to ‘get better as we go’

As the Bears switched Cody Whitehair back to center against the Lions, he had some ups and downs in his return to center.

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The Chicago Bears made some adjustments on offense prior to Sunday’s game against the Detroit Lions. Whether that was benching tight end Adam Shaheen or a switch on the offensive line, Matt Nagy was determined to shake things up.

After switching Cody Whitehair to left guard and James Daniels to center during the offseason, the team decided to switch them back after Daniels struggled at his new position over the first eight games this season.

When Whitehair snapped for the first time Sunday against the Lions, it was his first snap to quarterback Mitchell Trubisky since the pair played in the Pro Bowl back in January.

Whitehair struggled with his snaps, including one that could’ve been a disaster as a fumble that Trubisky managed to turn into a 3-yard gain. There were a few others that were high or wide that Trubisky had to adjust to.

“It went OK for me, but I wish I could have a couple [plays] back …” Whitehair said, via the Sun-Times. “It’ll get better as we go.”

Neither Whitehair or Daniels had played their former positions prior to switching during practice last week.

“It’s not easy switching positions within seven days,” Daniels said, “but [offensive line] coach Harry [Hiestand] believed in me.”

The switch comes after some struggles on the offensive line, where Nagy wouldn’t blame Daniels, just like he wouldn’t focus on Whitehair’s snapping issues.

“I think sometimes when, whatever sport it is — if it’s golf and a golfer has the yips or you get into people, pitchers or whatever — the less you talk about it, the better it gets,” he said.

We’ll see if that’s the case when the Bears travel to Los Angeles to play the Rams on Sunday Night Football, where defensive star Aaron Donald awaits.

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Lions add another 3 players to an already extensive injury report

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.

Former Lions WR Charles Rogers dead at 38

Former Lions WR Charles Rogers has passed away at just 38 years of age according to social media posts from former teammates

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Former Detroit Lions wide receiver and first-round pick Charles Rogers has died at age 38, according to social media posts from former teammates and confirmed by the Detroit Free Press’ Chris Solari. The Saginaw native and onetime Michigan State star was found dead in Florida on Monday morning.

Rogers’ time with the Lions is no small part of the story of the spectacularly lost decade of the 2000s. The No. 2 overall pick of the 2003 NFL Draft — taken one spot ahead of Andre Johnson — Rogers last just three seasons.

It could have been much more. Rogers caught two touchdown passes in his first career game and was at 22 receptions for 243 yards and three TDs in his first five before a broken collarbone shattered his season. He broke his collarbone again in 2004. Rogers became known as a fragile player and a colossal bust.

Substance abuse issues, including painkillers, derailed his career and his life. After football, he moved to Florida and worked with a childhood friend in an auto shop.

Rest in peace.

Bears LB Nick Kwiatkoski steps up in place of injured LB Danny Trevathan

The Bears lost starting LB Danny Trevathan to a gruesome elbow injury, but reserve LB Nick Kwiatkoski stepped up in his absence.

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When Bears linebacker Danny Trevathan suffered a gruesome elbow injury, backup Nick Kwiatkoski rose to the occasion in his place in Chicago’s 20-13 victory over the Lions.

Trevathan left the game in the first quarter after his arm bent the wrong way as he attempted to sack Lions quarterback Jeff Driskel. Trevathan immediately left the field, knowing that something was wrong.

While Bears coach Matt Nagy didn’t offer an update on Trevathan’s injury, it appeared to be similar to defensive tackle Akiem Hick’s elbow dislocation, perhaps worse.

Kwiatkoski relieved Trevathan with one of the best games of his career. He finished second in tackles with 9, recorded a sack and had the Bears’ lone takeaway — an interception of Driskel early in the third quarter, which led to a Bears scoring drive.

Kwiakoski once again proved to not only be an adamant fill-in but a productive one, just like he did earlier this season in place of linebacker Roquan Smith, who was a healthy scratch against the Minnesota Vikings.

‘‘It’s just preparation,’’ he said, via the Sun-Times. ‘‘As a linebacker, you plan on playing. Things happen throughout the course of a season, and you have to be ready for it.’’

Trevathan looks to be out awhile with his elbow injury, and Kwiatkoski suddenly has a big opportunity in front of him.

‘‘It’s not the way I want it to happen,” Kwiatkoski said. “Danny’s a close friend of mine.’’

But Kwiatkoski will get his chance this week as the Bears travel to Los Angeles to play the Rams on Sunday Night Football.

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The Detroit Lions should sit Matthew Stafford for his own good

The Detroit Lions should shutdown quarterback Matthew Stafford for the season, for his own good — and the teams.

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You could forgive Matthew Stafford for not knowing quite what to do with himself. After all, for the past 136 games, each and every time the Detroit Lions took the field on Sunday (or Monday, or Thursday, or even the occasional Saturday), he was there, commanding the huddle, trying to lead his team to victory.

So it had to be a bit weird when Stafford returned from the opening coin toss and put on not a helmet, but an earpiece. Standing awkwardly on the sideline, you could sense a discomfort that had nothing to do with the fractured bones in his back that sidelined him for the first time in nearly nine years.

Unfortunately for Stafford, he needs to get used to that uncomfortable feeling for a while. Because, if the Lions are smart, Stafford will not see the field again in 2019.

For the second consecutive season, Stafford has broken small bones in his back. And even if the injury is not quite the same one that he played through last season – and even though NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that Stafford could be back on the field as soon as next week – the Lions need to think long and hard before they put him under center again.

There is no question that the goal of coach Matt Patricia has to be to win every game. Not just for his future, but because — the Miami Dolphins tank-a-thon aside — winning is always better than losing.

But there’s a bigger picture to think about. Something more important than beating Dallas next Sunday or Washington the one after that.

Stafford is the unquestioned most important player on the Lions. He’s the most important athlete in Detroit. Period. And he’s going to stay that way for a long time.

Before Stafford’s injury, he was on pace for the best and most efficient season of his career. If the Lions hope to compete for a Super Bowl in the next decade, riding Stafford’s arm is the only way it’s going to happen.

Which is why the Lions can’t sacrifice the future for one or two more wins in a season that is going nowhere. After the Lions’ 20-13 loss to Chicago, they sit at a woeful 3-5-1. To make the playoffs, they would have to win their remaining seven games, and honestly, even that would likely not be enough in a stacked NFC.

The Lions have a duty to the future of the franchise (both in the literal and figurative sense of the word) to look past this Sunday and to 2020 and beyond.

Backs are tricky — just ask Tony Romo, who is leading CBS’s broadcast team instead of the Dallas Cowboys right now because of a series of back injuries. And even if doctors say that it’s just a pain management issue, or that Stafford can’t make things worse by playing, the Lions need to be as cautious as possible.

Had this been Stafford’s first back injury, and if the Lions still had a heartbeat’s chance of making the playoffs, then, sure, maybe you consider throwing him back out there. But this is Stafford’s second back injury this season, and the second straight year he’s literally broken his back trying to carry this team to respectability.

For as disappointing as the 2019 season has been, and as hard as it is to see right now, the Lions are not that far away from being an honest-to-gosh competitor in the NFC. The team will have a decent amount of cap space again, what looks to be another potential top-10 draft pick, and with a few tweaks to the coaching staff (looking at you Paul Pasqualoni), it isn’t hard to see how the bounces could go the Lions’ way in 2020.

But none of that will happen if Stafford isn’t completely healthy and if the team has to hold its breath every time he takes a hard hit because they never let his back completely heal.

That’s why the Lions should shut Stafford down for his own good — and the team’s.

And who knows, maybe after a couple of weeks, Stafford won’t look so awkward on the sideline anymore.