After the Detroit Lions came away with a strong win in Week 3 over the Arizona Cardinals, it was somewhat difficult to fully enjoy the victory.
Sure, the Lions are now 2-1 after the win, but it came at a price.
Pass rusher Marcus Davenport left the game briefly due to an apparent arm injury before he returned with a sleeve on. At first, we weren't sure just how serious the injury was.
Come Monday morning, fear started to creep in, though. Reports started to surface that wondered whether this might just be a very serious injury for Davenport.
Fast forward just a couple of hours, and NFL Network's Ian Rapoport dropped the news straight from head coach Dan Campbell's lips: Davenport's elbow injury is, indeed, season-ending.
Coach Dan Campbell has now confirmed this is a season-ending injury. Brutal. https://t.co/hXYu4cBzrc
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 23, 2024
Where do the Lions turn now that Marcus Davenport is out for the season?
To this point, Davenport had played a career-high 65 percent of snaps this season. However, the injury bug is something the veteran and former first-round pick just hasn't been able to avoid.
Last year with the Vikings, Davenport missed the majority of the season with an ankle injury. At this point, it's hard not to come to the. understanding that this is who he is. Injuries are an issue. It's sometimes unfair to call a player "injury-prone," but at the moment, it's tough not to with Davenport.
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In his absence, the Lions may replace Davenport with one of a couple practice squad players. First up would be seventh-year pro Pat O'Connor, who spent his first six seasons as a reserve for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
O'Connor has never played more than nine percent of snaps in a season and only has a career 1.5 sacks.
Otherwise, the Lions could bring up one of Mitchell Agude or Isaac Ukwu.
Agude was originally an undrafted free agent in 2023 and has yet to appear in a regular season game. Meanwhile, Ukwu was scooped up as an undrafted free agent, this year, out of Mississippi.
One other option might be for the Lions to get aggressive and try to go after someone like Haason Reddick of the New York Jets, who has been holding out and has yet to play a game for New York this season.
Reddick would likely cost a third-round pick, as that's what the Jets gave up for the former Philadelphia Eagle. But, the further we get into the season, maybe the Jets want to cut their losses and do away with the distraction for a little less.