The Detroit Lions don’t really have an injury problem, they have a frequency illusion and perception problem
The Lions injury problem isn’t really very bad at all if you look closely at it
There is absolutley no doubt that the Detroit Lions have some injuries. It’s happening and you can’t ignore that it’s happening. But with what happened to them in 2024, where it seemed like everyone was injured because everyone truly was, that feeling has leaked over into this season and has made Lions fans feel like the same exact thing is happening all over again.
In reality, the Lions have been a fairly healthy team all season, but they’ve had notable injuries. Losing Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, and Sam LaPorta are very notable, and those injuries hurt the team. But is it indicative of the Lions having the same issue as last year, when they had 17 players on injured reserve at the end of the season? Let’s take a look at the 13 guys they have on there right now.
A deeper dive into the Lions’ injured reserve list
- Terrion Arnold: Just recently placed on IR with a shoulder injury that required surgery. A tough loss for Detroit to stomach.
- Zach Cunningham: Played three games and a total of 14 snaps this season.
- Dan Jackson: Injured in camp and never played this season. Would have likely been the fifth safety and played mostly special teams
- Jamarco Jones: Injured in camp. Might have been cut in the final cut-downs otherwise.
- Sam LaPorta: A bad back injury that required surgery ended his season. No doubt a bad loss.
- Christian Mahogany: Is currently practicing and could be activated and start as early as Sunday against the Rams. More likely, he returns against the Steelers next week.
- Giovanni Manu: Hasn’t played since Week 5, and that was by necessity because Taylor Decker missed a week and Dan Skipper hadn’t come back yet. Manu was working with trainers at practice this week.
- Ennis Rakestraw: Injured at camp. Had he not been, he was likely going to have to earn his reps over time. Could be in for a better year next year.
- Colby Sorsdal: injured at camp. He was likely to be cut had he stayed healthy.
- Ezekiel Turner: Injured at camp. He was likely to be cut had he stayed healthy.
- Brock Wright: Working with trainers at practice this week. A good sign he could return this year.
- Shane Zylstra: Injured at camp and is expected to be activated and play against the Rams
- Brian Branch: Hasn’t been actually put on IR yet, but he will be Saturday, presumably.
So there you go. Of the 13 players, six of them never played this year. Seven of them likely wouldn’t have played a lot had they been healthy, and three of them probably wouldn’t have even been on the team. Then you have four who are expected to be back very soon.
So that really boils it down to two things. Frequency illusion and perception. The Perception is that because there are some injuries to a few key players, that means everyone is hurt, and the whole team is dealing with injuries. There’s also the perception that these injuries can’t be overcome. Which is weird because the Lions overcame way more injury adversity than this last year, until they just couldn’t anymore because it got to be too many players. Luckily, they don’t have it nearly as bad as they did in 2024.
But 2023 does play a role in the frequency illusion. The injuries were bad last year, and because of that, this year’s injuries have sort of been tacked onto last year’s count. It’s because you’re way more aware of injuries than you ever have been, and therefore, every time one happens, you’re telling yourself that 2024 is happening all over again. It’s not, though. You’re also telling yourself that your team has the most injuries and the most important injuries. They don’t.
But that’s the thing about the human mind. It’s incredibly powerful. Because of that, I know people are going to disagree with this article.