Getty D'Andre Swift runs in a touchdown for the Lions against New Orleans in 2020.
The Detroit Lions have endured a physical first full week of training camp, and the effects of that are beginning to show on the bodies of several players.
Early on, several players have shown as dinged up after battling in practice. On both the offense and defense, multiple contributors are beginning to feel the pain of the return to football for yet another season of hard work and preparation.
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Speaking to the media on Thursday, August 5, head coach Dan Campbell ran down the ailments and admitted that most of what the Lions are dealing with are minor bumps and bruises that the team is monitoring so things don’t get worse. Defensive lineman Julian Okwara, running back D’Andre Swift and defensive lineman Michael Brockers are amongst the players who are feeling a bit of the minor pain early on.
“They’re good. Julian (Okwara), we’ll find out more today. But I think he just got a bit of a bruise, kind of a contusion of the ribs. He should be fine. I would expect him to be back out there. He’ll be out there (for walkthrough) today, but tomorrow,” Campbell said to the media. “(Michael) Brockers, he’s a 10 year vet, we’re just trying to be smart with Brock. He’s slugged it out for a long time and we know what he can do. He’ll get his reps, they’ll come. We know what he is so there again, we want to be smart with him. (D’Andre) Swift, Swifty, he’s good. He’s another one, Swifty is bound pretty tight. He runs hot. We’re trying to get him a load and then back him down. We’re kind of working him in. We just want to make sure we’re being smart with him but get him his work. He’s had a little bit of a tight groin. He’s out there practicing, he’s pushing, we’re getting good reps and then we’re being smart with him. Every day we give him just a bit more. He’s getting better, he feels better. So I think we’ll be good.”
Another injury case that is being monitored is that of offensive lineman Tyrell Crosby. Probably the most serious injury case of all, Campbell admitted that Crosby is fighting a hamstring pull at this point in time which could keep him out for a bit.
“He got a hammy, and his looks like it’s probably a grade one right now, so he’s probably going to be down a little bit. We think this could be a good week, we’ll see today, tomorrow, but yeah, he pulled his hammy,” Campbell admitted.
So far, the good news seems to be that none of these injuries are season ending, nor are they ones that figure to linger on for multiple weeks.
Lions’ Derrick Barnes Also Dealing With Injury Concerns
As Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press pointed out after Dan Campbell’s media availability on Tuesday, August 3, linebacker Derrick Barnes is dealing with a hamstring issue that has held him back early in camp. It’s As a result, he was only slated to do walkthroughs on Tuesday while the rest of the team was starting out in pads for the first time in camp practice.
Derrick Barnes doing walk-thru again today. Campbell said he’s dealing with a slight hamstring that kept him out of team/individual Monday. Michael Brockers no pads today for Lions
There’s good news on the injury, though. According to Campbell during his Tuesday morning press conference, the ailment isn’t a serious one, even if it’s something to watch early on that the team is electing to play it safe with.
One more injury note: Derrick Barnes dealing with a slight hamstring injury, something that first popped up in the spring. Campbell said just trying to make sure it doesn’t get worse.
The Lions don’t want to see such an injury get worse, so it makes sense to take things slow with Barnes and make sure he is completely healthy before putting him on the field. It’s very similar to what the Lions are doing elsewhere with their other players.
Lions Looking Healthy During Camp Thus Far Overall
Detroit wasted little time putting the pads on and getting after it this week, so it’s no surprise that the team has seen a few ailments creep up early on. When a team gets serious and starts hitting, that often lends itself to more injuries on the practice field. Smartly, Campbell is pulling back the reigns a bit and not going full-bore every single day. Thursday’s practice was switched to a walkthrough after the coach liked his team’s effort the first few days on the field in shells. To see a few players have simple bumps and bruises at this point is good news, and beats the alternative of a few critical injuries taking players out for multiple weeks as has happened elsewhere in the league.
Watching and seeing how the Lions players respond to these injury concerns will be interesting in the days ahead. Clearly, the staff is going to help them to monitor things properly.
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