Detroit Lions Preseason Game 1 Injury Report: Rakestraw Update
Ennis Rakestraw leads the concerns coming out of the game
The Detroit Lions lost to the Cincinnati Bengals 16-14 in the first preseason game. The final score is meaningless. What is meaningful is the health of the team. The most significant question marks coming out of the game are to Ennis Rakestraw, Chuck Clark, and Loren Strickland.
Here are the injuries I saw during the game along with my suspected diagnoses. Unlike a regular season game, there are no official injury reports from the team during a preseason game. Dan Campbell did offer up limited updates after the game, which are included below.
THE GOOD NEWS
Tyler Conklin, who was recovering from a calf injury, made a catch on the first play. Calf issues can linger, so it’s great to see him already making plays in the first preseason game.
Ahmed Hassanein, who missed much of last season with a pec strain, was all over the field making plays.
Skyler Gill-Howard, who had ankle surgery last October, was very active and disruptive along the defensive line.
Levi Onwuzurike was wearing a right knee brace which confirms that his ACL was on the right side. It was good to see him in action after missing all of last season.
THE INJURIES
Chuck Clark (1q 5:39) - Concussion?
Clark staggers a bit as he gets up from making the tackle. He went headfirst on the tackle which could easily have caused a concussion. I did not see him return to the game.
Ahmed Hassanein (1q 3:35) - Right back contusion
The Lions kick returner Raheem Blackshear ran right into the back of Hassanein, which likely caused a simple contusion. No problems here as Hassanein returned to the game and looked really good. In the 3rd quarter, he delivered a strip sack. He finished with 2 sacks on the night.
Ennis Rakestraw (2q 14:45) - Right arm contusion
Rakestraw collided with a teammate and it was worrisome to see him hang his right arm down. Fortunately, the video looked like a simple arm contusion and he didn’t miss a snap.
Ennis Rakestraw (2q 11:51) - Left arm contusion
Rakestraw appears to take direct contact to his left shoulder area on this tackle.
Medical was seen testing out his shoulder strength on the sideline. If it’s a shoulder, that’s bad news for Rakestraw who had right shoulder surgery last August. Best case scenario is he just got hit in the upper arm area and has a simple contusion. He did not return to the game.
After the game, the early news was excellent for Rakestraw.
The concern moving forward is that he had to leave the game after a routine tackle. Maybe if it was a regular season game, he would have returned though. It still doesn’t inspire confidence in his ability to take hits, especially with his track record.
A contusion is a bruise that is caused by trauma. A simple muscle contusion can return anytime depending on the severity. I would expect Rakestraw could start non-contact practicing within the next day or two - as long as the injury didn’t involve the shoulder joint.
Jacob Saylors (2q 1:18) - Left turf toe?
You can see Saylors get his left toe hyperextended here, which can cause turf toe. A Lisfranc is a possibility also. In either case, there is a wide range of severities.
Saylors returned 1 play later which is reassuring, but I didn’t see him in the second half. He looked great running the ball, so hopefully there are no surprises here after the game.
Mekhi Wingo (2q 00:16) - Concussion + neck
This might be a simple neck strain as Wingo got his head knocked back on a friendly-fire collision with Skyler Gill-Howard. Wingo did not return.
Dan Campbell’s post-game statements suggest that Wingo had a concussion.
Loren Strickland (3q 7:55) - Left leg calf vs Achilles?
This was concerning as it was a non-contact injury. The multiple step-backs is a mechanism for a calf or Achilles. It’s reassuring here that Strickland didn’t go down immediately, which is typical for an Achilles rupture. A simple calf strain is possible here. I did not see him return to the game.
Aamaris Brown (4q 12:39) - Upper body
Brown returned to game quickly and looked just fine. No concerns here.