Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta avoided the worst-case scenario with the injury to his left knee in Week 18, suffering a hyperextension and a bone bruise. Almost miraculously, his status progressively improved heading into the Wild Card Round game against the Rams.
LaPorta not only played, but he played his normal role against the Rams and caught an important first half touchdown on a fourth down. Head coach Dan Campbell credited the Lions' training staff for the "voodoo magic" they did to get LaPorta ready to play, while also noting the obvious-LaPorta's toughness.
LaPorta will not be fully healthy until the season is over, that's obvious. He'll surely wear a heavy brace on his knee in every remaining game for the Lions, and play close to his usual snap count barring a substantial setback.
Detroit Lions injury updates: Sam LaPorta, James Houston
During his weekly appearance on 97.1 The Ticket Tuesday morning, Campbell was asked for an update on LaPorta.
"He came out good. Certainly didn't add to any of the injury, went through treatment yesterday and sounds like he's even better," Campbell explained. "So I feel like we're over the hump with him. There will always be a little soreness in there, but I think we got away unscathed there and he's gonna be feeling even better this week."
Emerging from the game Sunday night having not aggravated the knee injury is fantastic news on LaPorta. Being further removed from the injury will only help.
Campbell was also asked about the chances edge rusher James Houston will play Sunday against the Buccaneers. Houston, who suffered a fractured ankle in Week 2, had his 21-day clock to be activated from IR started on Dec. 28 and it expires on Wednesday. There appears to not be a lot of optimism.
"We're open to anything. He was better last week than he was the week before, we'd anticipate that he'd be even better this week," Campbell said. "But until we see where he's at, I can't tell you if he'll be able to go or not. But look, we're hoping. We want to take the best players we can, the guys that fit a niche or a role and can help us win."
The Lions have no more time to "see" where Houston is at. He practiced in full all last week, and if he's not activated on Wednesday his season is over. Campbell didn't want to declare anything one way or the other on Tuesday, but we'll know about Houston's status for Sunday by late Wednesday afternoon.