It was a rough game for the Lions offense. The offensive line, which has been shaky this year, had a bad day both in terms of performance and in health. The only one who appeared to escape injury was Graham Glasgow. The most concerning injury is to Christian Mahogany who will be out for at least a few weeks.
Optimistically, there is a good chance that all of the injuries (except Mahogany) are minor.
Dan Campbell gave some updates on all the offensive line injuries on Monday:
Here are the injuries I saw during the Vikings game along with suspected diagnoses.
Penei Sewell – left eyelid (2q 12:56)
It appears that Jonathan Greenard may have accidentally poked Sewell in the left eye area here. The lower eyelid appears to have some swelling. Hopefully, the actual eye is spared. If he was hit in the eye, a corneal abrasion is a possibility, but that should heal up within a few days. He didn’t miss a snap, and the eye should be fine for next game.
Penei Sewell – left shoulder/AC (3q 11:38)
Sewell pulls a defender with his left arm and then lands on the left shoulder. He was reaching for the upper part of the shoulder area afterwards which makes a pec strain less likely. A mild AC joint sprain is possible with the way he landed. He was able to finish out the game without missing a snap.
Dan Campbell’s comments on Monday were reassuring that there shouldn’t be any major surprises here.
Brian Branch – head trauma (3q 6:04)
Branch was down for a bit after getting hit on the side of the head during JJ McCarthy’s touchdown run. He finished out the game without problem. Presumably, he avoided a concussion.
Taylor Decker – left knee/ankle (3q 5:48)
Decker was rolled up on from behind. The left ankle is slightly trapped which could cause a high ankle or medial ankle sprain. The official listing was a knee which could be an MCL or PCL sprain. A meniscus tear is a small possibility also. Hopefully, there are no worsening symptoms in the next couple days and imaging is negative.
He left the game briefly and missed 10 of 64 snaps.
Terrion Arnold – back (3q)
The team reported a back injury. He was out of the game briefly in the early 4th quarter but returned to finish the game. There was nothing obvious on video. I don’t expect any surprises here.
Amik Robertson – left quad contusion (4q 14:49)
Brian Branch’s shoulder hits Robertson’s lower quad causing charley horse symptoms. Despite difficulty getting off the field, he only missed one play. He will be fine.
Tate Ratledge – right shoulder or stinger (4q 10:30)
Ratledge was hanging his right arm down which can be a sign of a stinger. An isolated stinger is generally not an issue assuming there is no cervical spine involvement. Multiple stingers in a season can cause missed time though. His official listing during the game was a shoulder.
He went to the locker room but returned to finish the game. He only missed 5 of 64 snaps. Dan Campbell’s comments on Monday implied no significant injury.
Amon-Ra St. Brown – cramps (4q 8:41 & 2:30)
Twice in the 4th quarter, St. Brown left the game with cramps. No concerns here.
Christian Mahogany – left knee/ankle (4q 7:40)
Video showed a left ankle collision with a Viking defender causing external rotation. This can cause a high ankle sprain or even a fracture like we saw with Khalil Dorsey last season.
However, the official listing surprisingly was a knee and not an ankle. There wasn’t any obvious impact or deformity to the knee. It’s possible the collision could have caused a subtle strain to the lateral side of the knee where the LCL (lateral collateral ligament) and PLC (posterolateral corner) exist. The diagnosis here will be interesting.
Dan Campbell confirmed a fracture on Monday but did not specify an anatomic location. Reading in-between-the-lines suggests that there was not any significant joint damage to the knee or ankle which is good news. If he truly can be back this season from a leg fracture, it must not be anything too significant. I would expect him to go on IR (injured reserve) this week.
Ty Summers – thumb
Summers was reported by the team to have a thumb injury, but still played 17 special teams snaps.
TIDBITS
Aidan Hutchinson was able to dodge 2 injuries this game. The first was when he kicked JJ McCarthy with his left leg – the same leg that had the tib/fib fracture last year.
The second was when he did a celebration that was uncomfortably reminiscent of Stephen Tulloch’s infamous discount double-check which tore his ACL.
Going back to Hutchinson’s rookie year, I suspect he may have mildly hurt himself doing a Michael Jackson leg kick celebration. After giving him $141 million guaranteed last week, the Lions would prefer he stick to celebrations that pose no risk to his knee ligaments.
Terrion Arnold picked up his first interception of his career. Notably, he had to wrestle the ball away which certainly put some strain on the right shoulder that has kept him out the past 2 games. It’s a good sign that the shoulder was able to pass the test.
Alim McNeill has been wearing a right knee brace since coming back from his ACL. He was up to a full workload in just his 2nd game back by playing 82% of snaps.
Taylor Decker did not appear to aggravate his right shoulder during this game which is good news.
Sione Vaki (groin) and Avonte Maddox (hamstring) were active despite no full practices over the week. Vaki got 19 special teams snaps and Maddox got 8. It seems they both got through the game without aggravation.
Mekhi Wingo continues to be an inactive on gameday. He’s only played in 1 game this season coming off a knee meniscus injury last season.
This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions Week 9 postgame injury report after loss to Vikings
Reporting by Jimmy Liao, MD, Lions Wire / Lions Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
