The Detroit Lions are back in the building, as they held their first practice on July 29th. The Lions had Kerby Joseph (knee), Brian Branch (Achilles), and Tyler Conklin (calf) placed on the PUP list, but head coach Dan Campbell revealed that tackle Giovanni Manu is also dealing with an injury.
When speaking to reporters, Campbell said that Manu will be sidelined for the next 12-14 weeks with an undisclosed injury that resurfaced during the first day of camp, per Colton Pouncy of The Athletic.
For a player who was fighting to be the top swing tackle for the Lions, he has yet another injury hurdle in his way.
Giovanni Manu's injury speed bump isn't ideal
Manu only appeared in four games last year (one start) before going down with a knee injury that landed him on IR. And now, he's set to lose out on valuable reps this summer. Detroit snagged Manu in the fourth round of the 2024 NFL draft, but he didn't touch the field as a rookie.
And for the third straight season, things are looking a bit murky. The Lions selected Blake Miller in the first round to be their starting right tackle after signing Larry Borom in free agency.
Borom now has the path to securing the OT3 role for this team, which is a gut punch to Manu. Despite being around for three seasons, Manu hasn't been able to get and stay on the field. That's not what anyone wants to see, especially from a 2024 draft class that hasn't yielded the results anyone wanted.
READ MORE: Lions 2026 training camp tracker: Latest updates, news, injuries, rumors, and more
In the coming days, it'll be worth looking out to see what Manu's dealing with, but no matter how you look at it, things aren't in the best place for him.
And Campbell's comments didn't give out much confidence, which may spark some concerns.
"He had an injury, a previous injury over the summer, that was not disclosed. He came off the practice field (on Wednesday), didn't feel good, got it checked. Sure enough, that's what it was. So, he will be out for a period of time. I don't know how long that's going to be. Call it 12 weeks. Fourteen weeks. I don't know. We'll figure it out down the road, but he is NFI," Richard Silva of The Detroit News wrote.
The Lions are clearly kicking the can down the road and focusing on the guys who are on the field. Meanwhile, for Manu's sake, his time in the Motor City could be ticking. Being available is a player's best quality, and that's something he's consistently struggled with in Detroit.
Add us as a preferred source on Google