During seemingly every game lately, the Detroit Lions are losing multiple players to injury. Thanksgiving Day against the Chicago Bears was no different, with linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez lost for the rest of the season to a torn ACL, defensive linemen Josh Paschal and Levi Onwuzurike questionable for Thursday night against the Green Bay Packers and rookie defensive lineman Mekhi Wingo (knee) out for the season as well.
Asked after the win over the Bears if he felt snake bitten by the rash of injuries on the defense, head coach Dan Campbell had the expected sentiment.
"Let me ask you this, does it really matter? Like, who cares?, Campbell said. "That’s what I go back to, it doesn’t matter. Either it is or it isn’t, we get a guy back or we don’t get a guy back. And worrying about it and moaning about it and b*tching about it.... I know this, whoever we have available, we’re gonna get them ready to play and we expect them to hold the line, period. You’ve got to do your job and everybody around you is looking for you to do your job.”
The Lions have added four defensive players to their active roster or practice squad in recent days, just to have some healthier bodies around as as the regular season winds down.
Dan Campbell knows the injury bug is inherently random
As a former player, Campbell continually shows he's keenly aware of the training camp and in-season grind. He knows when to ease up on the intensity of practice, or when certain players may need a day off. So the rash of injuries doesn't, or doesn't seem to, have any roots in overworking players.
Campbell spoke to reporters on Sunday, and he doesn't think there's any overriding factor causing the long list of injuries the Lions have had this season.
"We look at everything every year. This time last year, we were one of the healthiest teams, and we've done the same thing. So, yeah, we look at everything," Campbell said. "We'll be able to deep-dive this in the offseason, but really it is, it's the same thing we did last year. Some of these have just kind of been one of those, like chalk it up to, 'That's a freak deal. That's kind of an odd thing that happened and how it happened.' There's no rhyme or reason and this happens, I mean it just does. As long as I've been in this league, as a player and as a coach, some years are great, and some years it's just like this. And you overcome it."
It's not news that injuries are random in football, and there's a lot of luck involved. As healthy as the Lions were last season, as Campbell alluded to, it's gone totally the other way this year. But unlike some other teams, the Lions have overcome all the injuries they've had to be 11-1 and a Super Bowl favorite as the calendar turns to December.