The Lions need one thing more than anything after the bye, and the last 2 seasons show exactly why
Detroit has had 27 players miss time due to injuries suffered after its bye over the last two seasons. With 12 games still ahead, avoiding another post-bye avalanche may matter more than anything else.
The Detroit Lions’ bye week has passed. The team returned to practice on Monday to get ready for its Week 7 game against the Green Bay Packers.
After a convincing win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 5, the Lions seem like maybe they’re trending in the right direction. It helps that they’re getting Brian Branch and Cade Mays back this week, too.
So what do the Lions need more than anything right now? Is it to get a hold of the explosives they’ve allowed on defense? Correct some of the little things, like bad penalties?
Yes, they do need those things to be fixed, but even more than that, they need luck.
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The Lions need luck more than ever after their history of post-bye injuries
The header says it all. The Lions have had a drastic number of injury problems after the bye over the last two years. Just take a look.
| Measure | 2024 | 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Bye week | Week 5 | Week 8 |
| Games after bye | 13 | 10 |
| Players who went on IR after bye | 11 | 6 |
| Players missing games without IR | 7 | 3 |
| Total injured players | 18 | 9 |
That is a lot.
It trended in the right direction in 2025, although the injuries were bigger in terms of who got hurt. Brian Branch, Sam LaPorta, Christian Mahogany, Terrion Arnold, and Brock Wright all went to IR. Penei Sewell, Taylor Decker, Alex Anzalone, Graham Glasgow, and Alim McNeill all missed games without going to IR.
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Now, all this team needs is the luck of not having this injury problem continue in 2026. That’s mostly what it is.
But it is worth noting that the Lions did attempt to do things this offseason to help that luck along.
They had the least violent training camp I’ve covered since Dan Campbell took over. You could see this team holding back on hitting and not tackling to the ground as much as they have in the past. In fact, when it did happen this summer, it felt rare.
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The team also canceled its joint practices after they had notoriously become a place where players were going live and full-on hitting, and where there was usually some extracurricular activity involving fists. The Lions also canceled their rookie minicamp. Just one less spot where somebody could get hurt.
They’ve put in all the work, and now we wait to see what happens with the luck.
The Lions have 12 games left. Let’s see what happens.
The good news is that they kind of have another bye week on the books. After Thanksgiving, the Lions get 10 days between games. That will be nice after having to play three games in 12 days.
You have to hope that’s all enough.
