Lions safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson may be done for the season

The Detroit Lions added plenty of injuries to the insult of a tough loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. Safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson suffered what appeared to be an injury to his shoulder or arm area on the first drive of the game, but he missed just two snaps and it appeared it was not all that serious of an issue.

After the game, and he wouldn't have said otherwise, Gardner-Johnson told reporters he was "fine."

Well, not so much. According to Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL Media on Monday night, Gardner-Johnson is feared to have suffered a torn pectoral. He's out indefinitely, and he may be done for the season.

Justin Rogers of The Detroit News cited a team source who said, regarding the still ongoing medical evaluation for Gardner-Johnson, "it's not looking good for him."

Gardner-Johnson led the Lions with eight tackles against the Seahawks on Sunday, and he was Pro Football Focus' fourth highest-graded Lions' defender for the day (67.1). While playing with one good arm, and presumably in a lot of discomfort. Over the first two games this season, he has been as advertised as a run and pass defender.

How will the Detroit Lions replace C.J. Gardner-Johnson?

As an overall tone setter, there's no way to replace Gardner-Johnson. But all is not lost for the Lions. Tracy Walker, the team's leading tackler in 2021, made a fantastic recovery from a torn Achilles' in Week 3 last season. When Gardner-Johnson and Kerby Joseph were banged up against Seattle, he saw his first defensive snaps of the season.

Earlier on Monday, unbeknownst to anyone who saw it at that point, Walker seemed to tweet a reaction to the looming news about Gardner-Johnson. By all accounts he has taken his not being a starter to open the season the way you'd expect, like the consummate professional he is.

Gardner-Johnson seemed to confirm the dire news via Instagram, with a subsequent positive note though.

Confirmation of Gardner-Johnson's injury from the team should come on Tuesday. But the Lions have the depth in their secondary to soften the blow of his absence, which is not something that could have been said for this team in years past when a key player went down.