This season, the Detroit Lions have been one of the elite teams in the NFL, and for many reasons.
Whether we're talking about the masterful offense engineered by offensive coordinator Ben Johnson or the defense that's held on for dear life under Aaron Glenn, this team has been resilient.
Defensively, the Lions have had a hard time generating a pass rush since the major injury to Aidan Hutchinson. Before Hutchinson's injury, he was leading the league in sacks. After he went down, the Lions have had enormous shoes to fill.
Glenn and his defense have done enough to help the Lions keep winning, though, and that's a big reason he's a top head coach candidate.
As the Lions took on the Minnesota Vikings in a pivotal Week 18 matchup on Sunday Night Football, the defense saw another big name go down with an injury.
Lions rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold suffered an injury in Week 18 against the Vikings
Just a couple of minutes into the third quarter, the Lions were hit with yet another injury as rookie first-round cornerback Terrion Arnold was carted off the field. At first, it was unclear just what had happened to the rookie defensive back.
Terrion Arnold is being helped to the locker room pic.twitter.com/2rD57cnU52
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) January 6, 2025
A few minutes after he was taken off the field, the Lions officially announced the injury was to his foot and that his return was questionable.
Near the beginning of the fourth quarter, sideline reporter Melissa Stark reiterated Arnold's status as being questionable, but did note "he was very emotional" after the injury.
Arnold joins the laundry list of injuries suffered by the Lions this season. There have been jokes made about this defense starting players off the street, and they aren't that far off base.
As of this week, the Lions had a whopping 13 defensive players on injured reserve, including Hutchinson. If Arnold's injury ends up being even remotely serious, it is only going to be par for the course for Lions fans.
The fan base is sadly used to such news. But once more, that's another layer to what's made this season so spectacular. Injury after injury has piled up for Detroit, yet the team has continued to find ways to win under Dan Campbell and company.
Hopefully, the team got the initial tag of "questionable" right and Arnold isn't going to miss an extended period of time.