The Detroit Lions had what turned out to be one of their best offensive showings of the 2025 season in Week 10 against the Washington Commanders. Tight end Sam LaPorta played a season-low snap share in the one-sided victory, but otherwise he had a typical day with five catches for 53 yards.
Then, on the first practice report heading into Week 11, LaPorta popped up with a back issue. Days later, he was placed on IR. Back issues are nothing to sneeze at, and after the Week 11 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles, head coach Dan Campbell hightlighted the uncertainty about LaPorta beyond a minimum four-game stint on IR.
"Obviously, it’s enough to where we’re talking about four weeks here,” Campbell said. “So, obviously, we’re going to hope that this thing calms down. And after those four games, we can get him back, but we’re really just taking this day-to-day, week-to-week.”
At that point Campbell also expressed the obvious uncertainty about if LaPorta's return timeline, and indeed he was unable to suit up again this season. Heading into Week 18, looking ahead, the sentiment was not much different from the Lions' head coach.
“I feel like next year, that’s certainly off the table, early in the year,” Campbell said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “You’d like to believe training camp we’ll get him, but you’re talking about a back. And he’s improving but yet, he’s not completely healed.”
The impact of LaPorta's absence from the Lions' offense was noticeable, and immediate. In the nine games with him, the Lions averaged 31.4 points per game. In the eight without him, they averaged 24.8 points per game. To put a finer point on it, that's the difference between being the top scoring offense in the league and the 12th-best.
Sam LaPorta offers details about his back injury
The Lions cleaned out their lockers on Monday, and LaPorta was among the players who talked to reporters. How he's progressing after back surgery in November was of course the top du jour, and he offered direct details.
“It actually occurred in the Commanders game,” LaPorta said. “There were some accumulated falls and hits that I took in the weeks leading up to that game, and then of course, it happened in the Commanders game. I fully herniated the disc.”
LaPorta said he had initial optimism about his return timeline, but it proved to not be in the cards.
“It was really unfortunate, I was trying to look at the best possible outlook. I was hoping to get back within two-to-three weeks, not even going on IR, and then in the days following the Commanders game, I was just in a lot of pain," the former second-round pick detailed. "I was gimpy, walking around like an 80-year-old man, and it just wasn’t getting any better. I felt like surgery was the best route, the team felt that way as well. Backs aren’t anything to mess with, and I want to have a long, healthy career.”
LaPorta said he plans to be ready for training camp, with OTAs this spring the next outwardly noticeable mark for his progress.
"I start another phase of my rehab tomorrow (Tuesday), which is exciting," LaPorta said. "Hopefully by OTAs (organized team activities), I am up running around, of course, we’ll be in pads in training camp, so it’s a lot different than other sports, just to be able to brace for those hits... I really got to get this back right before I am out there running around in pads and taking those hits and such.”
Whatever his activity level during OTAs, and perhaps early in training camp, is, the only priority with LaPorta is having him ready for Week 1 in September. Recovery from back surgery is a process, and if history is an indicator the Lions will (rightly) tilt signifificantly toward caution as LaPorta moves through his rehab.