SideLion Report
FanSided

Will the Detroit Lions overcome the injury bug?

By Forrester Solmen

INDIANAPOLIS, IN - AUGUST 13: Kerry Hyder #61 of the Detroit Lions is taken off the field after suffering an injury against the Indianapolis Colts during a preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 13, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, IN - AUGUST 13: Kerry Hyder #61 of the Detroit Lions is taken off the field after suffering an injury against the Indianapolis Colts during a preseason game at Lucas Oil Stadium on August 13, 2017 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Joe Robbins/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Banged up and troubled is the best way to describe how the Detroit Lions are feeling on their bye week. Talk about perfect timing.

Every team throughout the entire NFL season will be dealing with injuries. Obviously, some teams are hit harder than others. The Detroit Lions are one of those teams that have dealt with a lot of players getting hurt.

They were already dealing with multiple injuries prior to last weeks contest against the New Orleans Saints. After the game, Detroit was hurting even more.

Currently, 12 players in total sat out this week. 10 of those players are starters, the remaining two are filling in for starters who were lost for the year prior to the start of the regular season.

The injury most crippling to the Lions is quarterback Matthew Stafford. Others injured includes three offensive lineman. Fill-in starting left tackle Greg Robinson, starting right guard TJ Lang and backup guard/tackle Emmett Cleary all missed time.

At wide receiver, starter Golden Tate, starter Kenny Golladay and fill-in starter TJ Jones were also held out of practices. These were all the players absent on the offensive side.

On defense, the Lions suffered many blows. None was bigger than starting free safety Glover Quin. Starting strongside linebacker Paul Worrilow continues to miss practice.

The position that has taken the most abuse is the defensive line. Both defensive ends, injury replacement Anthony Zettel and starter Ziggy Ansah, were absent. Defensive tackle wasn’t so lucky either as starter A’Shawn Robinson rested up as well.

Bottom line, the Lions needed this bye week. This comes at a perfect time where an extra week of rest could really boost the overall availability of the squad.

These injuries aren’t going to help win the division title. The NFC North is up for grabs and all the teams in the division have a lot of question marks.

With 10 games remaining, and none of them being too particularly daunting, Detroit has a good chance of being able to finish out the season strong. Although getting healthier will be key to putting together a playoff team/division champion, the Lions need another week of practice to help clean up their play.

Next: The 2017 Detroit Lions are never truly out of a game

Getting back to the basics on defense and getting on track on offense can happen with the extra time they get from their bye week. Accomplishing these tasks will turn the Lions into the formidable team they were to start 2017.

Home/Lions News