In preseason Game 2, the Detroit Lions kept all their stars safely in bubble wrap on the sideline, thus keeping this postgame injury report from having any major impact. The two biggest concerns are to the knees of Cedrick Wilson and Michael Niese.
Here is the Lions vs Commanders postgame injury report with my suspected diagnoses, along with other interesting game notes at the end. Included are postgame injury updates by Dan Campbell.
🔴Bad news or high concern
🟡Uncertain or moderately concerning
🟢Good news or low concern
🟢Jacob Saylors 1q 14:56
Saylors #25 was slow getting up after blocking on the opening kickoff return. My review of the video looked benign. He stayed in and got a carry on the first play of the game and played into the 2nd quarter. Recall that he had a left ankle sprain in the last game. No concerns here.
🟢Christian Mahogany 1q 11:33 - Left ankle
Mahogany gets rolled-up on, which risked a high-ankle sprain. Luckily, his ankle slips out just in time. Last season, Mahogany suffered a left fibula fracture so it’s good he avoided another injury to that same spot.
🟡Cedrick Wilson 1q 7:22 - Left knee
Wilson stayed in for the next play, where he was offscreen and uninvolved, before exiting. The play before was the suspicious play. You can see his left knee come down hard on the turf.
Best case - simple contusion. Medium case - prepatellar bursitis. Worse case - PCL sprain. Wilson did not return to game. If it’s a PCL, he could be out for a few weeks.
After the game, Dan Campbell said he was worried about the knee. MRI results will be key here.
🟢Luke Altmyer 2q 8:37 - Right eye
Altmyer either got poked in the right eye or got some rubber pellets in there. He stayed in and looked fine. Thankfully, no Sione Vaki eye situation here.
🟢Chuck Clark 2q 3:43 - Left abdomen contusion
Clark takes a knee shot to his abdomen. Best case is he got the wind knocked out of him. An abdominal contusion is very likely. Worst case would be a rib injury. Clark returned to the game which alleviated any concerns.
Also good news for Clark is he kept his head out of the way of tackles this game - unlike last game.
🟢Miles Frazier 3q 7:26 - Ankle?
Frazier limped off. Video was totally obscured, but there is the possibility one of his ankles was rolled up on in the pile. He was able to return to the game so there is low concern.
🟡 Michael Niese 3q 3:43 - Right knee MCL
This mechanism is classic MCL sprain. There is a small chance of an ACL, but that seems unlikely here. Niese hobbled off the field before being carted to the locker room.
MCL’s usually heal well, but that depends on the severity. A mild-moderate MCL can be back within a month. A severe MCL can take 2+ months and in some cases, even require surgery.
Given Niese’s bubble status, it seems likely he’ll be placed on IR in the coming days, and then possibly released with an injury settlement.
🟡Jabari Small - Concussion
After the game, Dan Campbell reported that RB Small had a concussion.
OTHER GAME NOTES
Mekhi Wingo plays 9 days after concussion
Dan Campbell stated Wingo had his “bell rung” after last game which is a mild concussion. There was also concern for a neck injury. Thus, it was excellent news to see him play in 9 days. That’s right on the edge of when Lions have returned over the past 3 seasons, as I analyzed earlier…
Sione Vaki sits out
After the game, Dan Campbell stated that Vaki was out due to back spasms. That is of low concern. It was probably good to not take any real-game hits to his eye injury and nasal fracture anyway.
The pregame show had the best close-up I’ve seen of Sione Vaki’s eye.
If you missed my suspected Vaki eye diagnosis…
Juice Scruggs starts at center
This left leg sleeve picture from practice earlier this week shows that his unspecified soft tissue strain was most likely a left hamstring or calf. Quad is less common but possible also.
Good to see Scruggs starting this game. The other center contender McLaughlin appeared to struggle later in the game. Thus, Scruggs is looking like the starting center for Week 1.
Ennis Rakestraw plays just 2 days after ankle sprain
The news of a non-contact mechanism ankle injury added up to a suspected diagnosis of a mild low-ankle sprain, which can be played through.
As Con correctly pointed out, a bad-case scenario was avoided here…
Rakestraw played in the second half and got through the game without any more drama.