Maybe the biggest surprise to make the Detroit Lions’ initial 53-man roster was running back Jabari Small - not only because he was the 5th RB on the roster, but also because of recent health concerns. Here is his medical report where I review the concerns.
For the full roster health overview, visit my Lions Injury Tracker.
Medical concern level ranges from 0 (🟢low) to 5 (🟡moderate) to 10 (🔴high).
(Ages in parentheses are at start of 2026 season and are factored into the concern level. Injury info and ages based on available public information and are unverified - subject to update. Games played data includes playoffs & courtesy of sports-reference.com.)
🔴Jabari Small, RB (24)
Medical Concern Level: 9/10
2026: Concussion in preseason Game 2 (Aug 22). Video concern for another concussion in preseason Game 3 (Aug 29), no official report yet.
2025: Waived by Lions in August with unspecified injury settlement.
2024: Concussion in preseason.
2023 (U of Tennessee): 11 games played
2022: 13 games. After season, shoulder surgery in January 2023.
2021: 11 games. Nagging shoulder injury.
2020: 10 games
Small has yet to appear in an NFL regular season game, but has accumulated multiple injuries in his three preseasons in the NFL. He’s had at least two concussions in the past three years, and another suspected one last week. There was an unspecified injury in 2025. He also has a significant shoulder history with surgery in college.
Let’s review the concussion concern. Small suffered a concussion this preseason in Game 2. The most concerning and unsettled issue right now is whether he suffered another concussion in preseason Game 3, which would mean two concussions in eight days. Here is the video from Game 3…
Small gets hit in the head here and appears to have brief difficulty getting off the ground. I did not see him return to the game after this play, which suggests the medical team had concerns and pulled him.
Since the Lions are not required to provide any injury reports in the preseason and no direct questions have been asked to Dan Campbell about this, we don’t know whether he had an official concussion diagnosis in Game 3 or not.
NFL players will often be able to avoid official concussion diagnoses for various reasons. For example, in 2020, we saw Matthew Stafford escape a seemingly obvious concussion diagnosis where he appeared dazed, had multiple players and the ref immediately recognize signs, and was taken to the locker room never to return…
Thus, there is still concern for a concussion with Small even if he did not get stamped with an official concussion diagnosis.
If Small avoided a concussion diagnosis, he still has at least two concussions in three preseason years, which is a high frequency. That is concerning for a low concussion threshold (prone to getting concussions), which presents durability risk - especially at the RB position where taking blows to the head is an unavoidable part of the job.
If Small indeed was diagnosed with his second concussion in eight days, that would mean at least three concussions in three preseason years, which is very concerning. In the short term, it would likely put him out of action for a month or more.
All this is why Small’s inclusion in the Lions 53-man roster is a big surprise from a medical standpoint.
There's little doubt in my mind that repeated blows to the head, or concussions, pose a tremendous risk factor for the development of CTE and other neurological diseases/disorders. The brain, while incredibly robust and neuroplastic, is not invulnerable. To me, it would seem rather naive to think repeatedly slamming your brain against the inside of your skull can never result in lasting, permanent damage.
However, no two brains are the same and no two concussions are the same, and it's very, very difficult to asses their true severity. I've seen examples of players taking brutal hits (like getting knocked out with a fencing response) who say that they feel fine afterwards and report having no lasting side effects. Other players can develop post-concussion syndrome from a seemingly much more mild hit and miss extended periods of time. While we can rest players with outward symptoms or side effects, or if they suffer repeated concussions within a short amount of time, I think it still remains incredibly difficult to know the true extent or impact of any individual concussion. Just because a player doesn't have immediate or obvious side effects doesn't mean they escaped without consequence, either.
I am curious though, why does suffering a concussion make you more prone to suffering a subsequent one, especially right after? Do we know why the brain is in a more vulnerable state — even when the players say they're fine? Based on the video evidence, it definitely seemed like Small suffered another one.
Ultimately, I'm not sure what the else the NFL is willing to do to significantly reduce concussions (without making meaningful changes to the sport), but at least there's still plenty of room for the science to improve. The NFL did its level best to sweep concussions under the rug for years, and there's still a lot that we have to learn. But it's my hope that continued research and technology can and will help us better understand the neurological impact of concussions so players can be better informed about the risks that they are taking.