Dan Campbell gave some Detroit Lions injury updates, and yet another defensive lineman is out for the season.
The Detroit Lions have been hit hard by the injury bug, especially on the defensive side of the ball, and on Saturday, coach Dan Cambell confirmed that Malcolm Rodriguez was indeed lost for the season, and provided a few more updates on the current situation.
Mekhi Wingo’s season is over
Wingo appeared in 11 games for the Lions in his rookie season, totaling nine tackles and a quarterback hit, earning a lot of valuable experience playing all across the defensive front—221 total snaps between defense and special teams.
In the last game, Wingo injured his knee, exited briefly, and returned to the game. But after the Lions got a better chance to look at things following the game, they determined that he would need to be shut down for the remainder of the year.
“Wingo is going to be out, he’ll be done for the season,” Campbell said. “His [injury] will probably require surgery, so that’s another one. Hate that for him, but I think everything will be clean and he’ll be healed up for next year and that’s good news.”
While losing Wingo is certainly a blow to the team’s depth, he averaged around 16 defensive snaps per game, which is a number that can be replaced. They can simply fold those snaps back into existing players, while also passing some along to newly signed (reported) Jonah Williams.
Levi Onwuzurike and Josh Paschal ‘day-to-day’ but unlikely to play vs. Packers
After losing Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport for the season, the Lions leaned heavily on Josh Paschal and Levi Onwuzurike to help fill the void. The addition of Za’Darius Smith has helped alleviate some of that pressure, but Paschal and Onwuzurike still had heavily contributing roles.
“Paschal, it’s hard to say, really he and Levi [Onwuzurike] are day-to-day,” Campbell continued. “I think Paschal has got a better shot than Levi […] I don’t know, I’m not real optimistic about either one of them playing (against the Packers), but I guess Paschal’s got a better shot.”
Al-Quadin Muhammed stepped up his game as a replacement last week and will likely be counted on again, potentially in a starting role if Paschal and Onwuzurike indeed miss the next game.
Emmanuel Moseley ‘gonna be fine’
Moseley was set to play against the Bears on Thanksgiving when an injury during warm-ups led to him being inactive for precautionary measures. He is expected to play against the Packers next Thursday.
“E-Man, I think he’s going to be good to go,” Campbell continued.
“Had a little something that flared up on him and it didn’t feel right. Just knowing what we were going to ask him to do, we didn’t want to take that risk of him trying to open up and run, but it looks like he’s going to be just fine.”
Carlton Davis ‘day-to-day’
Davis, already dealing with a broken thumb, injured his knee against the Colts in Week 12, and was forced to miss the Lions Thanksgiving Day game. Campbell alluded to there not being much that has changed and labeled him as, “day-to-day, questionable,” for the Packer game.
Without Davis in the lineup, the Lions rotated Kindle Vildor and Khalil Dorsey opposite Terrion Arnold. It’s unclear if Moseley would fit back into the rotation, as the Lions have been slowly re-acclimating him back to football after missing the previous two seasons.
