Good news on the injury front for Detroit Lions linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez.
One of the lingering questions from the Detroit Lions’ 52-14 win over the Tennessee Titans was the status of linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez. The third-year linebacker suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and after initially being listed as questionable, he was quickly downgraded to out and did not return.
Despite the ominous look of the injury, it appears Rodriguez may not miss a lot of time. Per NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Rodriguez avoided a high ankle sprain. Instead, it was a re-aggravation of a previous injury, and he may only miss a game or two.
“He aggravated an old ankle injury, but it’s nothing severe. Rodrigo is likely to miss Week 9, but should return for Week 10 vs. the #Texans,” Schultz tweeted on Monday.
After the season-ending injury to Derrick Barnes a month ago, Rodriguez had jumped into a starting role on the Lions defense, joining both Jack Campbell and Alex Anzalone. He played at least 30 defensive snaps in each game since Barnes’ injury, logging starts in three of those four games. Against the Vikings, Rodriguez may have had his best game yet, tallying seven tackles, one sack, and five defensive stops, per PFF.
The Lions are also in a good place with their linebacker depth so that if Rodriguez misses more time than expected, they should be okay. Against the Titans, Jalen Reeves-Maybin stepped up in a significant role, playing 14 defensive snaps. Trevor Nowaske has also seen his playing time increase in Barnes’ absence, and even Ben Niemann saw some garbage time plays late against the Titans.
We’ll have official word on Rodriguez’s status when the first injury report of the week drops on Wednesday.
