Getty Quintez Cephus runs away after a catch in 2021.
The Detroit Lions have stayed relatively healthy so far in training camp, but that may have changed a bit on Tuesday morning.
Detroit’s offense has seen an early surge from wideout Quintez Cephus, but the receiver is now also the first bigger-name player to sustain an injury during training camp. Cephus went down on August 2. DetroitLions.com reporter Tim Twentyman revealed the news during practice:
Quintez Cephus made a great catch against Jeff Okudah in 1-on-1s but stayed down for a while. Needed help off field not putting much weight on his left leg
“Quintez Cephus made a great catch against Jeff Okudah in 1-on-1s but stayed down for a while. Needed help off field not putting much weight on his left leg,” Twentyman tweeted.
Not putting weight on the leg sounds like bad news for Cephus and the Lions, in addition to being helped off. It remains to be seen specifically what is wrong with the player. Nevertheless, a leg injury of any kind is bad news for a receiver, as is a lack of weight on the extremity.
The hope is this is a short-term problem for Cephus and he can shake things off relatively fast.
Cephus Has Impressed This Offseason
The injury temporarily slows what has been a fantastic offseason as well as training camp for Cephus up until this point in time.
During practice on Wednesday, July 27, Cephus was spotted making another sterling catch, this one over star Detroit cornerback Amani Oruwariye. Cephus went up and pulled the ball in with a great arm catch, turning a possible incompletion into a big play:
Is the “Catch of #LionsCamp” contest over already?
You tell us, @QoDeep_87!
Plays like this show why the wide receiver was in such a good frame of mind during camp. Cephus has embraced competition and managed to keep his own game elite. He simply keeps making good things happen. That speaks to a player that has significant breakout ability.
It’s been a complete body of work that Cephus has displayed which proves this. During offseason workouts in June, Cephus was turning in the eye-opening plays as well:
Q with the one-hander!
Given what he has done so far multiple times, the hope is that Cephus can make a recovery and continue to chase down a big role with the team for this year. He has looked primed for it for a while.
Lions Plan if Cephus Has Long-Term Injury
If Cephus has to be sidelined, the good news is the team has depth on the roster at the position. Trinity Benson has been just as impressive early in camp and the offseason as Cephus, so the team may have to lean on him in the meantime.
In addition to Benson, the Lions have other young players that are taking steps forward. Josh Reynolds has been impressing early on, and Kalif Raymond returned in a depth role. The Lions also hope to get a starring year from DJ Chark as well as Amon-Ra St. Brown. Jameson Williams could come back midseason.
Time will tell what now ails Cephus specifically, but the fact that he had to leave practice early with injury isn’t great news at this point.
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