There’s been a little mystery surrounding Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta’s back injury that cost him the final eight games of the season. All we’ve really heard is that it required season-ending surgery, and the 2023 second-round pick is expected to be ready by training camp in 2026.
On locker room cleanout day, LaPorta spoke to the media for the first time since the surgery and gave a little more background on what happened. According to LaPorta, he sustained an accumulation of falls and hits in games leading up to the Washington Commanders game in Week 10, but in that game alone, that’s when one of his vertebrae discs “fully herniated.”
“Numbness and tingling and muscle loss–it happened shortly after that,” LaPorta said. “When you can’t do a single-leg calf raise, it’s kinda hard to play football. So that’s kind of where we were at.”
Initially, LaPorta was hoping it was on the minor end of these types of injuries. Sometimes, they can take just a couple weeks to feel better, sometimes it’s closer to a couple months. In extreme cases, it requires surgery, and, unfortunately, after a couple weeks of not improving, the team and LaPorta agreed that he fell into the last category. So the Lions placed him on injured reserve, and LaPorta got the surgery.
“Backs aren’t anything to mess with, and I want to have a long, healthy career, so it was the best route,” LaPorta said.
It’s now been six weeks since the procedure, and LaPorta is excited about the new phase of rehab he’ll be starting this week. He confirmed coach Dan Campbell’s target of being ready by training camp this upcoming offseason.
“Hopefully by OTAs I’m up running around, and then, of course, we’ll be in pads in training camp,” LaPorta said. “So, it’s a lot different than other sports, just to be able to brace for those hits, and the accumulation of a long NFL season, I’ve really got to get this back right before I’m out there running around in pads and taking those hits and such.”
LaPorta said this ordeal—the first major injury of his athletic career—won’t necessarily change how he plays the game. While it’s obviously important to try and stay healthy as long as possible, he’s not going to let one injury cause him to scale back his determination on each play, even if it means absorbing multiple hits.
“You can’t really worry about those things, to be honest. You just have to assume that you’re going to make it through the game healthy and you’re going to give your best effort every week when you go out,” LaPorta said. “The freak accidents happen. You train, you prepare, and get your body as best as you can for the season, and then some things happen, and you’ve just got to live with the results, unfortunately. It’s the game we play.”
LaPorta finished the season with 40 catches for 489 yards in nine contests, a pace that would have produced career-high numbers for a player who was already playing at a Pro Bowl level. That’s not to mention the clear progress he made as a blocker in both the run and pass game. He’s clearly proud of the progress he’s made and is hoping to pick up right where he left off once he’s back on the field again.
“I was very happy with how I was playing in my third season,” LaPorta said. “I felt like I was making strides even from my first and second year, and hopefully an even better player to come in the future once I rehab and get healthy again.”
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