The Detroit Lions switched things up some on Monday with an evening practice at Allen Park. Three notable players left the practice early: rookie cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Ennis Rakestraw, and running back Jahmy Gibbs. Arnold is dealing with an upper body issue, it was an ankle for Rakestraw and the immediate news was a leg injury for Gibbs.
ESPN's Adam Schefter has subsequently reported it's a hamstring injury for Gibbs. The severity of the injury, or to which leg it is, is unclear.
Gibb has a little bit of history with hamstring issues. He missed two games with a hamstring injury last season, after the injury popped up late in the practice week before Week 5. He missed time during OTAs with an undisclosed soft tissue injury, and he was eased into action when training camp started.
Gibbs is coming off a Pro Bowl rookie season where he rushed for 945 yards and 10 touchdowns while adding 52 catches for 316 yards and a touchdown through the air. He scored a rushing touchdown in all three of the Lions' playoff games.
Jahmyr Gibbs injury: How long will the Lions' running back be out?
There's not enough information right now to know how much time Gibbs might miss. Per John Maakaron of SI.com Tuesday is a day off, so any further official updates from the Lions likely won't come until Wednesday. The team's official update Monday evening was that Gibbs is being evaluated for a leg injury, which is necessarily vague but skeptics could call it concerning.
It's fair to assume Gibbs won't practice the rest of this week, and he most likely wasn't going to play in the second preseason game on Saturday against the Kansas City Chiefs anyway. The consensus among the instant medical evaluators that have offered an evaluation lean to a couple things regarding the injury.
1. Is it a Grade 1 (less severe) hamstring strain? Or is it worse?
2. Is this a re-injury of the issue that kept him out of OTAs and slowed his being a full-go for camp?
We don't necessarily know that it was a hamstring strain that kept Gibbs out of OTAs, even if some people say so.
Jahmyr Gibbs update —
— Jeff Mueller, PT, DPT (@jmthrivept) August 13, 2024
Hamstring strain suffered today.
He had suffered a hamstring strain in May/June that had continued to limit him and as of 8/4, “was not full go yet”.
This is either a reinjury or opposite side.
4 weeks to Wk1.
Reinjury could put Wk1 status in jeopardy. https://t.co/2zeLsQc8IW
Gibbs' status for Week 1 could come into question quickly. Hamstring injuries can be slow recoveries, and setbacks are easy to have. But until there's more information, let optimism reign and say that he won't miss much time or any meaningful games.