Getty Julian Okwara during a 2020 game for the Lions.
The Detroit Lions saw rookie defender Julian Okwara hobble off the field against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and now, Okwara has been shelved with that very same leg injury.
Wednesday, the Lions revealed they had placed the rookie pass rusher on injured reserve amongst a slew of moves for the team. The other notable move for the Detroit defense? Fellow edge rusher Austin Bryant is slated to return after his early season placement on IR.
The Lions announce the following roster moves:
🔷Sign CB Chris Jones
🔷Place DE Julian Okwara on Reserve/Injured
🔷Sign T Dan Skipper & TE Matt Sokol to the practice squad
🔷Release P Arryn Siposs from practice squad
🔷DE Austin Bryant (Reserve/PUP) will return to practice today
As for the timetable, it sounds as if Okwara will be on the sidelines for at least a few weeks before the team will look to re-evaluate.
Matt Patricia said there’s no timetable for Julian Okwara’s potential return. Said it’ll be “a couple of weeks” and then they’ll evaluate again.
No matter the timeline, this is a tough break for Okwara considering he had suffered through a leg injury as a player at Notre Dame. That caused him to fall a bit in the draft, where he was scooped up in the 3rd round by the Lions. He had seen rotational duty for the team’s pass rush thus far this season.
Austin Bryant’s Return To Lions
Picked up in the 4th round of the 2019 draft, the pass rusher out of Clemson got hyped as a hidden gem thanks to his production in college for a while, but an injury helped his slip in the draft, and once he got to Detroit, he was quickly injured again with a nearly identical ailment to the one he sustained in school in early 2019.
“It’s been tough, especially the whole draft process, couldn’t do anything. When I got here, I couldn’t do anything. Then to finally get cleared and have another little mishap to prolong it even more was tough, but just had to be patient,” Bryant told the media last year. “Had some great teammates giving me encouragement, coaches always encouraging me, so I was able to keep a positive attitude and continue to work.”
Perhaps ironically, not being able to have everything handed to him right away has helped Bryant in terms of motivation as well as slowing the game down. He’s had time to learn in his adjustment to the league, and reflect on why football means so much to him. Unlike many rookies who admit everything happens fast, Bryant has found the exact opposite to be true.
“I’ll never forget having to be patient, you come in as a rookie and you want to play right away, and having to sit back and wait. I think it’s kind of helped me more than anything,” he said in last year’s interview. “I got fresh legs, I was able to learn as much as I could from the older guys and the coaches and be in the meetings so that was helpful.”
This year, Bryant was forced to sit early in the season once again, so it will be interesting to see if he’s chomping at the bit to get on the field and do some damage this season. Perhaps his insertion into the lineup will help.
Julian Okwara Stats
This season, Romeo Okwara has been playing a starring role for the Lions and their pass rush up front. His brother Julian has had a slower start as a rookie in terms of his adjustment to the league. Still, in terms of athleticism, he is no slouch, however, and will give the Lions some help off the edge in his career. Okwara’s length and ability to disrupt could prove huge in time, as could his comfy family fit with the Lions.
During his time with Notre Dame prior to injury, Okwara was very productive for the team. 79 tackles, 15.5 career sacks, 4 forced fumbles and 2 interceptions show a player who can do a lot to blow up a game and disrupt. That’s just what the Lions have needed in a big way and hope Okwara can get back to once he gets healthy. So far in the NFL, Okwara has not managed to register a stat.
The hope is he can shake off this injury soon and come back even stronger in the future.
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