Getty Da'Shawn Hand gets carted off in 2018.
The Detroit Lions have now reached the level of the absurd with their injury report, and have lost yet another key name as the 2019 season winds down.
This week, defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand became the team’s latest victim of the injury bug, going on injured reserve with an ankle injury which cost him time this year. Hand won’t be coming back from the injury this time around, not at least until 2020. He’ll now have plenty of time off to rehab the injury and get well.
Hand had been trying to fight back off injury but wasn’t making any progress. He was out again this week, and was looking like a virtual lock not to play against Tampa Bay this weekend regardless. Now that he’s out, the Lions will have no choice but to officially move on for this season.
It’s been a tough go of it for the Lions this season in the trenches, and the team is struggling to stay healthy up front. The hope is that Hand can take the needed time to heal up and feel better for a much stronger 2020, because he is a very talented defender.
Da’Shawn Hand’s Injury History
The Lions got a solid player in the 2018 NFL Draft when they picked up Hand out of Alabama, and quickly, Hand proved his worth to the team with some solid play up front. Injury trouble started later in the season with a knee ailment which knocked Hand out of the last few games of 2018 on the field. He struggled to get healthy early on this year, and was not able to contribute much to Detroit’s defensive cause this year.
As a whole, Hand has put up decent numbers. His rookie year featured 27 tackles and 3 sacks, but this season has been much worse considering health. Hand only managed to put up 6 total tackles this season. Obviously, it’s been a tough go of it thanks to injury most of all. The hope is he can come back healthy and ready to perform in 2020, because Hand is a nice piece for the Lions up front.
Lions Injuries
If you think the Lions will feel badly for any of the other teams dealing with the same problems given their current predicament, you’d likely be wrong. Detroit has arguably been the most injury-riddled team this season in the entire NFL. There’s the names you know in Matthew Stafford, Kerryon Johnson, Jeff Driskel, Darius Slay and most recently Marvin Jones. There’s also the names you might forget in Jarrad Davis, Hand and Tracy Walker, both who have been in and out for stretches. That’s a ton of man power lost and replaced due to injury.
Detroit has struggled this season, but it’s safe to say a big reason has been the injuries they have faced down. With Hand now hitting the IR, the team has lost yet another key piece that could have helped them in a major way to a frustrating ailment.
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