Getty Mike Daniels sacks Mitch Trubisky.
It was a tough afternoon for the Detroit Lions in terms of health in their loss to the Chicago Bears, but even in spite of the negatives, one positive may have emerged.
During the game, defensive lineman Mike Daniels, who was making his first start off injury since September, hobbled off the field favoring his leg. A foot injury claimed his season last year in Green Bay, and another one cost him most of the first part of the 2019 season with Detroit, so fans were likely holding their breath when they saw the play happen in real time.
After the game, Daniels tweeted initially that he was alright. That tweet was quickly deleted, perhaps a nod to the secretive nature of the Lions in terms of injuries and what they choose to report in controlling the message. Regardless, it would be a major blessing if Daniels was correct in his assessment and he ended up coming out of the game unscathed after appearing to sustain another potential injury.
Daniels stepped up for the Lions and managed to get a sack of Mitch Trubisky early on during a third down play, his first in a Detroit uniform. On the day, he accounted for 1 tackle and 1 sack up front for the team. Here’s a look at the play he turned in:
This was huge! Welcome back Mike Daniels! #onepride
Obviously, a healthy Daniels can be a game changer up front, something the Lions have needed in a big way given the injuries they have dealt with in the trenches.
Mike Daniels Injuries
Daniels missed the end of the 2018 season in Green Bay with a foot injury which landed him on IR. He was attempting to work back from that this offseason when the Packers pulled the plug on Daniels and released him during training camp. The Lions snatched him up, and after an up and down start to his career in Detroit, he was hobbled by a foot injury to his other foot early in the season after a game with the Philadelphia Eagles.
Daniels hasn’t played since, and has been working back to health on the field. This past week, he was limited in practice but was declared good enough to go by the time game time rolled around. With the sack, he quickly paid dividends for the Lions, who
If indeed Daniels is correct in his original, deleted tweet and he is alright, that would be a major boost for the Lions moving forward, especially seeing as the injury cases of Da’Shawn Hand and Romeo Okwara are now firmly up in the air after each missed Sunday’s game.
Matt Patricia didn’t have an update on injuries after the game.
Mike Daniels Statistics
Daniels has been one of the most productive interior linemen in the NFL during his career, piling up 228 tackles and 30 sacks coming into this season. He’s also been a Pro Bowl level talent in the league, which has been huge and allowed him to be one of the bigger name players along any defensive line. With the Lions, Daniels has not made as huge an immediate impact with just 3 tackles and 1 sack thus far in his tenure.
The hope is that the injury case solves itself and Daniels’ premature tweet in the heat of the moment proves to be correct.
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