Heading into Thursday night's preseason opener against the New York Giants, the Detroit Lions are in New York/New Jersey for two days of joint practices against the host from the NFC East. Starters will see action on those two days, in lieu of playing in the game on Thursday night.
Part of the equation, even with the relative importance of joint practices, is managing any injury concerns. So it was no surprise when head coach Dan Campbell said defensive back Brian Branch would be limited to 7-on-7 and individual drills during Monday's session against the Giants as he works his way all the way back from offseason ankle surgery.
But Campbell also said tight end Sam LaPorta will not be practicing on Monday.
"The only one to note, because I know it’s coming — LaPorta is not going to practice today,” Campbell said. “And Branch will just get indy (individual workouts) and 7-on-7. He’s not going to get any team reps. But they'll be fine long-term, don't sweat."
Campbell did not get into specifics, but he said something popped up for LaPorta late last week in practice.
Injury concern for Sam LaPorta is mild, for now
It's easy to overreact to injury updates that are new or out of the blue during training camp. Whatever LaPorta is dealing may not even prevent him from participating in Tuesday's joint practice session against the Giants, and he wasn't going to play in the preseason opener anyway.
Campbell isn't going to say if there's any real concern for LaPorta's injury, especially when he doesn't have to get into specifics. He just knew it would be noticed if the Lions' No. 1 tight end wasn't practicing on Monday, and offered the news in part to get ahead of that.
Update, Aug. 6, 9:45 a.m.: According to Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News, LaPorta will not practice again on Tuesday as he deals with a minor hamstring issue.
Campbell says LaPorta won’t practice again today. He’s dealing with a hammy.
— Nolan Bianchi (@nolanbianchi) August 6, 2024
LaPorta's absence for the joint practices will provide opportunity for the Lions' other tight ends (besides Brock Wright) to advance themselves in what's shaping up to be a strong competition for one or two spots on the 53-man roster.