Jack Campbell suffered a highly concerning injury to his neck yesterday. For my initial thoughts on his injury, visit my Lions vs Vikings Postgame Injury Report.
Here are the updates from the Lions today:
Lions Statement on X
It’s hard to know what to make of this update as the patient and family have a right to 100% privacy regardless if it’s good or bad news.
“Preliminary indications are positive” almost certainly rules out the worst-case scenario of permanent paralysis, which is of course great news. However, it does imply that there hasn’t been full neurological recovery yet.
Dan Campbell on Jack Campbell
Dan Campbell had a press conference today with updates on multiple players. I’ll start with what he said about Jack, and have the rest of the player updates at the end of this article.
It’s positive. Your prayers are working, please continue to do that. We’ll leave it at that. Just continue to pray for him, but it is positive news on Jack.
Got to see his parents, talk to his wife. Everybody’s in good spirits. It’s about the recovery. It’s a small setback. It’s the family, they’re very positive.
Body language and tone of voice were decidedly positive here with Dan. It certainly sounded like an overall optimistic update. Put all together, it seems hopeful that severe, permanent neurological injury is unlikely at this point for Jack.
What Are the Possibilities?
There is a possibility of lingering neurological symptoms (tingling, weakness) that are actively in a recovery phase, which can carry a highly uncertain timeline of hours to days to months.
Chad is correct that during the acute phase - which is where we are at less than 24 hours since the injury - swelling and inflammation will be present and can be impacting the spinal cord and nerves. The medical team will know a lot more over the next few days.
Is Surgery Still Under Consideration?
Jack has presumably not had surgery, but it’s possible that he will still undergo surgery at some point. It will depend on what the MRI/CT revealed as the underlying cause of his injury. Looking at some notable cases based on public reports:
Reggie Brown had same-day C1/C2 fusion surgery
Ryan Shazier had spinal stabilization surgery 2 days post
Saivion Smith had cervical fusion 2 weeks post
Jayden Reed this season had neck surgery >10 days post
Further Review of Injury Videos
The following are more thorough and recut videos of Jack’s neck injury, along with a suspicious preceding play. I’m also bringing in videos of Saivion Smith’s 2022 injury, as there may be some relevance.
Feel free to let me know your thoughts on what you see in the videos or in general.
Importance of Injury Video Analysis
Part of the reason video retrospective analysis of injuries is important is because it can lead to increased medical knowledge that can help future players. It’s only been in the past 20-30 years of human history that we’ve had this many 4K cameras offering multiple angles and slow-motion to allow us to see exact mechanisms of injury.
If Jack Campbell and Saivion Smith had an antecedent injury that ultimately resulted in a serious spinal cord injury, that knowledge may help determine when to pull a player off the field in the future. It’s similar to how the NFL (and medical science in general) is more knowledgeable now about what to look for with concussions.
Jack Campbell Antecedent Injury?
I went back and reviewed all of Jack Campbell’s plays. The one that had initially caught my eye, which occurred seven plays prior to his final play, still stands out.
In the video, you can see Jack hitting the ballcarrier’s shoulder with the crown of his helmet. Getting hit on the top of the head is one of the primary causes in football of spine injuries due to compression of the spine. After the tackle, he bends his head over like he may have been hurt.
Here is the seventh play before his final play…
Taking a look back at Saivion Smith’s temporary paralysis from 2022, here was the play immediately before his final play…
Smith (#29) does a strange, awkward jerking motion as he gets up after making the tackle. Maybe it’s something, maybe it’s nothing - but the very next play, he suffers a temporary paralysis.
Jack Campbell Final Play
For both Smith and Campbell, their final plays appeared routine and benign. This would make sense if they actually had been injured to some degree before their final play, and it was the final contact that put them over the edge. The spinal cord is in a very tight anatomic area and every millimeter can make a difference.
Here is Campbell’s final play, where you can see his head is up and he takes contact to the facemask. This is how players are taught to tackle because it is generally safe and would be extraordinarily unlikely to cause a spinal injury.
Here is Smith’s final play, where you can see he takes contact to the crown of the helmet, but the force is minimal…
Dan Campbell Updates
Here are the rest of the injury updates from Dan today, with my between-the-lines analysis. See my Lions vs Vikings Postgame Injury Report for the injury videos.
🔴Bad news or high concern
🟡Uncertain or moderately concerning
🟢Good news or low concern
🔴Jimmy Rolder - Hamstring
Jimmy Rolder could require surgery. He’ll be out for the season.
Terrible news for Rolder, who looked good on Sunday. Incredibly, Rolder was hurt on the same play as Jack Campbell. I suspect this hamstring is an aggravation to the hamstring injury in camp that took about six weeks to recover.
With Jack Campbell almost certainly out for the season, the Lions linebacker unit is now thin. Devin White should be back in about a month from his forearm fracture though.
🟢Cade Mays - Ankle
Cade’s got this ankle. I don’t see him practicing certainly Wednesday.
Video suggested a possible left low-ankle sprain, which would be a best-case scenario. Dan’s update sounded reassuring that this wasn’t a long-term injury.
🟢DJ Reed - Hip
DJ Reed got a hip. I don’t see him practicing Wednesday.
Video was consistent with a right hip contusion, which would be best-case scenario. Dan’s update here sounded reassuring.
🟢Jacob Saylors - Neck
Saylors got a little something. I don’t see him practicing Wednesday.
Saylors almost certainly aggravated his neck injury from the prior game. Given that he didn’t miss time with the initial injury, that suggests a mild, simple sprain/strain. Dan’s update here was also reassuring.
🟢Brian Branch & DJ Wonnum - Concussions
Obviously, our two concussion guys have to go through the protocol.
I wouldn’t say it was any better any worse than a concussion anybody else has had, with either [Wonnum or Branch]. Today wasn’t a negative.
Sounds like straightforward concussions for Branch and Wonnum. In 2024, Branch had a return-to-play in 21 days from a concussion, but that was complicated by an illness and a bye.
I think there is a good chance both players miss Sunday’s game vs the Dolphins, but it also wouldn’t surprise me if they play. Branch seems much more likely to play given what was seen on the field - with Wonnum needing to be carted off.