Vince Lombardi’s quote “What the h*** is going on out here!” would adequately describe the health issues that seem to be ravaging the Detroit Lions roster.
Still licking the wounds from when 1st round pick Nick Fairley went down with a broken foot, 2nd round pick Mikel Leshoure went way down with a torn ACL ending a very short rookie season for the running back out of Illinois.
"You could tell on the field from the way he went down," said Head Coach Jim Schwartz following practice. "There are no more tests that need to be done. He’ll have surgery very soon - probably tomorrow."
Leshoure’s mishap is not just the third injury to the Lion’s 2011 draft class, which is bad enough, but it is now our top three picks that have gone down. Defensive tackle Fairley to a broken foot, wide receiver Titus Young to an injured leg and now Leshoure to a torn left ACL. I don’t want to get Lions fans riled up by throwing out the word conspiracy but the fact that our top three 2011 draft picks went down to the injury bug (all leg injuries at that) can only mean one thing…conspiracy!
Just admit it NFC North (I’m talking to Vikings, Packers and da Bears), you all were either scared of the pre-season momentum the Lions were gaining, fearing last place in the division or maybe we were just taking too much air time by ESPN’s John Clayton for your liking. Who dunnit? Do ya’ll have some undercover goon you call “communications intern” who is secretly digging potholes in Allen Park at night?
Okay, okay, maybe it wasn’t the intern theory. But all these injuries do trouble me nonetheless and I don’t know whether it is simply unluckiness, a shortened training camp due to the 4 ½ month work stoppage, or the abolishment of two-a-day practices by the league. Is it just me or do there seem to be more injuries around the league this year? With the lockout just ending, perhaps young, unsigned players are feeling rushed to perform in a short time while veterans long removed from high-performance mode are quickly thrust back into the fire. I’m sure it could be a plethora of reasons, but for Lions fans, it has definitely been deflating to the hot air balloon of confidence we shared going into camp.
Leshoure can now join a growing list. Here is the injury update according to the Detroit Free Press.
INJURY UPDATE: Players who remained sidelined were right tackle Gosder Cherilus (knee), safety Louis Delmas (finger), cornerback Alphonso Smith (foot), defensive tackle Andre Fluellen (hand) and receiver Titus Young (leg).
Young said he hopes to return next week. Smith has a screw in his broken foot, but there is no estimate on his return.
Tight end Richard Dickson and cornerback Nate Vasher returned to practice, although Vasher only took part in individual drills because of tightness in his hips.
The heat caught up with cornerbacks Eric Wright and Maurice Leggett, who had to leave practice early.
"Yeah, we had a couple guys drop," Schwartz said. "We were giving away IVs for free today."
Players not on that list but also injured are as follows: DT Nick Fairley (foot), RB Maurice Morris (hand), T Jason Fox (foot), K Jason Hanson (knee, foot).
Surely misery likes company so you can be sure the Lions are not the only ones ailing.
For all the able bodied men out there, Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had this advice.
"They need to take advantage of every single rep they get," he said. "We don’t have time to worry about where they were in the off-season or how much time they’ve had so far. They’ve got to take advantage of what’s happening right now."
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