Two weeks after a freak injury, Sione Vaki is back practicing with the Detroit Lions — with a bloodshot left eye.
The running back returned to the field Saturday after missing 12 days with a broken nose. Vaki suffered the injury after getting hit in the face through his face mask in the Lions’ first padded summer practice.
"It was just a fluke play," he said. "I was running the ball and then the hand slipped through the facemask. I mean, I can't really explain it. It happened all so quick."
In Monday’s practice, Vaki broke off a touchdown run where he emphatically finished the play by laying into safety Avonte Maddox. He was noticeably sporting a visor on his helmet.
Sione Vaki just ran through Maddox on the sideline for a Detroit Lions touchdown
— Steven Perkins (@perkz8) August 17, 2026
“My thing is just don’t go out of bounds, and score the ball,” he said. “Shoutout Avonte — couldn’t get me out of bounds. It’s good, though. We’ll watch the film.”
Vaki has a new chance to compete for a valuable backup role in the Lions’ running back room. He said his footwork, vision and knowledge of protections have all improved as he enters year three. Vaki credited his teammates, assistant head coach Scottie Montgomery and running backs coach Tashard Choice with helping bring him along.
He’s still quite new to the running back position. Vaki began his college career at Utah as a safety, but began to get snaps at running back as a senior in 2023. He rushed for 317 yards and two touchdowns on 45 carries, including a 158-yard outburst against Cal.
So it was a bit of an eyebrow-raiser when the Lions drafted him in 2024 as a running back. Since then, he’s played mostly on special teams and has 7 carries for 18 yards in his career.
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“The biggest thing for me to Vaki is -- when you have a player with the talent level -- he’s explosive,” Choice said. “He’s fast. He’s smart. He’s physical, and so, he’s putty still.”
He’s putty-- in other words, a guy who needs as many running back reps as he can get. That looked like the Lions’ plan for him last year, before injuries caused him to miss time in training camp and limited him to 11 appearances in the regular season.
Interestingly, when talking about Pacheco, Holmes made sure to mention Sione Vaki. Said they wanted to get him more involved last year, but training camp injuries pushed back those plans.
— Jeremy Reisman (@DetroitOnLion) March 24, 2026
Detroit signed veteran Isiah Pacheco to be their No. 2 back ahead of this season. But he’s currently dealing with an MCL sprain that could sideline him until Week 1. Pacheco is also not exactly coming off the most inspiring final season in Kansas City.
Isiah Pacheco among 49 RBs with 100+ att:
— Warren Sharp (@SharpFootball) July 10, 2026
#46 in explosive run rate (3.4%)
#47 in longest rush (16 yds on 118 att)
#47 in success rate (29.7%)
#38 in YPC (3.9)
this is despite him facing the NFL's HIGHEST rate of light boxes & LOWEST rate of 7+ and 8+ box defenders last year
It leaves Vaki with a golden opportunity to earn a real offensive role with this team. In college, he flashed unique versatility as a rusher, receiver and defensive player. If the Lions can tap into some of that, he becomes one of the more compelling pieces on the roster.
But he’s missed plenty of valuable time throughout the first two years and change of his pro career. Vaki needs better injury luck going forward so he can continue to get better and grow into the Swiss army knife the Lions drafted him to be.
He’s already got value as a key special teamer – Vaki played 60% of the Lions’ snaps on that side of the ball last year and made 10 tackles.
But he has the chance to become even more for this team if he can stay healthy.
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