Ennis Rakestraw Jr. was seen grimacing as his left arm hung limply following a repetition during a team drill, almost an hour into the Detroit Lions’ opening practice of training camp Sunday, July 20, in Allen Park.
Once the second-year cornerback retreated to the sideline, he squatted down and clutched a region of his upper body near his shoulder as he received medical attention.
Not long thereafter, he gingerly walked off the field and retreated to the team facility while being escorted by a trainer. The Lions later notified reporters he was being evaluated for a chest injury.
“Of course, we don’t want to see things like that happen,” cornerback Amik Robertson told the Free Press. “But we’ve seen it happen before. We know how to adjust to it.”
As Robertson implied, it felt like the same old, same old for a defense that last season was decimated by fractured bones, torn ligaments and frayed muscles.
Rakestraw was among the many sidelined. Following a trying introduction to his rookie campaign marked by his recovery from a sports hernia incurred during his college days at Missouri, he pulled his hamstring in warmups before the Lions’ Week 2 loss to Tampa Bay last September.
While Rakestraw would eventually return to the field, he played only 43 more snaps the remainder of the season as the strain lingered. In late November, he was placed on injured reserve.
The Lions, nevertheless, remained optimistic about Rakestraw’s potential with the assumption the 2024 second-round pick’s health would improve.
“We’re really excited and looking forward to what he’s going to be able to bring this year,” general manager Brad Holmes said in April.
In the spring, Rakestraw lined up exclusively on the outside after he played almost 50% of his snaps in the slot last year.
On Sunday, after D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold ran through some reps with the first team, Rakestraw was seen working with the top reserves. While the extent of Rakestraw’s injury is unknown, the Lions have the depth to absorb it. The secondary is one of the most well-fortified sectors of the team.
“Of course, it’s devastating to see a guy go down,” Robertson said. “But this team is build off of ‘next man up.’”
Rakestraw is the latest second-round pick by Holmes to suffer from injuries. Levi Onwuzurike (2021) was just ruled out for the season, and Josh Paschal (2022) is not expected to return to practice until early September. Both have been injury prone.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin on X.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Ennis Rakestraw Jr. injured at Detroit Lions training camp practice
Reporting by Rainer Sabin, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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