Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold had a bit of an injury scare during Thursday's last padless practice, suffering what was reported to be a calf strain after another physical outing for Detroit's defense. Arnold is expected to be take a big leap from his rookie year with the Lions, where he had already shown major promise.
Arnold, as a result of that reported strain, was also reported to be sitting out for a bit to rest that strain. Those can be pretty serious injuries, but we had no idea of the severity as strains have certain grades.
Well, if we needed any indication of just how non-problematic Arnold's strain was headed into Friday's practice - the Lions' first of training camp with pads on - we could look to one of the very first hits Arnold had on the first team offense on Friday morning:
Terrion Arnold just tackled Jamo’s helmet off of him. These guys could not wait to hit
— Mike Payton (@AtoZ_Payton) July 25, 2025
Arnold picks up where he left off one day after injury
Arnold very clearly wasn't looking to take any days off, especially ahead of a pads on practice where the Lions could finally get physical without repercussions. As most Lions fans probably know by now, the team had to pause practice a few times this week because players were simply getting too chippy with one another. Given how bad their injuries had been to end 2024 and have already been headed into 2025, there was no point in risking it with players too amped up.
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Now, they can just go full speed ahead. Arnold's development in this regard will specifically be huge for the Lions this season. While they have uber-reliable play on their depth chart and secondary with Brian Branch, Kerby Joseph, and D.J. Reed under their belt, Arnold's ability to play at their level in Year 2 could elevate the Lions' defense from great to best in the league.
While practice was reportedly short lived this morning, this nugget on Arnold shows that he's bounced back nicely from a down day on Thursday. We're likely to see more from Arnold and the rest of the secondary over the weekend and as we get closer to the Hall of Fame game on July 31.
This healthier defense led by new DC Kelvin Sheppard is looking to form chemistry and gain momentum ahead of Week 1 against the Green Bay Packers, with Arnold almost a centerpiece to that cornerback room.