Lions wide receiver Quintez Cephus facing extended absence with shoulder injury

An already thin Lions’ wide receiver corps took a hit on Sunday, as Quintez Cephus is likely going to miss significant time with a shoulder injury.

The Detroit Lions lost in heartbreaking fashion on Sunday, but they also lost a significant player to an injury in the game. According to multiple reporters, including Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, wide receiver Quintez Cephus is likely to miss significant time with a shoulder injury.

Head coach Dan Campbell’s post-game comments were not promising for Cephus’ outlook.

“It looks like it’s in the shoulder-front area,” Campbell said. “Could be his clavicle, could be his shoulder, but it doesn’t look good.”

The idea Cephus is dealing with a collarbone injury paints a picture that says Cephus will miss several weeks, and possibly the rest of the season. He was driven hard to the ground after a reception late in the first half of Sunday’s game against the Vikings, and missed the second half. He finished with three catches for 38 yards.

The Lions will miss Quintez Cephus

With Tyrell Williams on IR and Breshad Perriman let go before ever suiting up for the Lions, Cephus stepped into a significant role in his second season. He had a touchdown catch in each of the first two games, then he set career-highs with four catches for 83 yards in Week 4 against the Chicago Bears.

In Cephus’ place, the Lions finished Sunday’s game with Khalif Raymond, Amon-Ra St. Brown, KhaDarel Hodge and Trinity Benson as their wide receivers. St. Brown had a second straight productive game, with seven receptions for 65 yards, and Hodge caught a two-point conversion late in the fourth quarter to give Detroit a brief 17-16 lead. Per Birkett, quarterback Jared Goff pointed to how the two-point conversion play was new to Hodge.

“I don’t know if KhaDarel Hodge ran that route ever,” Goff said. “I think it was Cephus the whole time in practice. And then Cephus goes down and KhaDarel steps in and being a smart player, knowing what he’s supposed to do and gets himself open. You know, that kind of indicates the type of guys we have, which is encouraging there.”

Monday should bring clarity on how much time Cephus will miss. But the proverbial “next men up” look to be St. Brown and Hodge, with Raymond maintaining a prominent role.