More bad Detroit Lions injury news: Malcolm Rodriguez is reportedly out for the year with a torn ACL.
Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell warned that the injury to linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez could be the worst of the bunch from Thanksgiving, and, unfortunately, that appears to be true. According to Jordan Schultz, Rodriguez suffered a torn ACL against the Chicago Bears and will miss the rest of the season.
It’s a tough blow to a Lions defense that has seemingly suffered a long-term injury every single week. The Lions are particularly shorthanded at linebacker, where Alex Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin are all already on injured reserve—although Anzalone and Reeves-Maybin may return around the playoffs.
Rodriguez had played very well as a reserve linebacker this season. In his six starts (10 games played), Rodriguez totaled 43 tackles, 2.0 sacks, a pass defended, and a 74.4 PFF grade—the highest of his career.
With Rodriguez out of the lineup, the Lions relied heavily upon recently-added Ezekiel Turner against the Bears. Turner played 22 snaps on Thursday, while the Lions also got some help from Trevor Nowaske (31 snaps), David Long (12), and Ben Niemann (four).
As for Rodriguez’s future, he still has one year remaining on his rookie contract. And with the average recovery time of a torn ACL being around nine months, hopefully, he’ll be ready by the start of next season.
