The Detroit Lions don’t like to make it easy on themselves, or their fans. After bursting out to a 21-0 lead, they barely held on for a 31-30 overtime victory. Regardless, a win in the NFL is a win, especially in the wild, wacky, wonderful world of Week 1.
What I didn’t like is that the team had to play another nine minutes, with the corresponding added exposure to injury. Fortunately, this was a very healthy game for the Lions, with the only immediate concern being Christian Mahogany.
Here are the injuries I saw, along with my suspected diagnoses.
🔴Bad news or high concern
🟡Uncertain or moderately concerning
🟢Good news or low concern
🟡Christian Mahogany, LG (1q 5:59) - Left knee or hip?
Christian Mahogany got the start at LG, as expected. Unfortunately, his stay was short.
Mahogany kicks his own feet here, which causes an awkward overextension step onto the left leg. All the force on the straight leg causes the knee to bend into varus (away from the midline of the body), which stretches out the lateral side of the knee. An LCL (lateral collateral ligament) or PLC (posterolateral corner) sprain are possible. Best case is a simple bone bruise without cartilage damage, which could be just a short-term issue.
Mahogany was officially listed with a “knee” during the game.
After the game, Dan Campbell stated: “We did do a [knee] scan that came out negative, but that doesn’t mean we’re out of the woods. Sounds like it could be more hip maybe, but we’ll see.”
If this is indeed a hip, it could be similar to what we saw with Sam Darnold’s possible hip injury earlier this week, where the femur jams into the hip joint. A hip labrum injury becomes a possibility, with a small chance of a hip wall fracture. CT/MRI’s are pending.
🟢Blake Miller, RT (2q 9:23) - Right ankle
Miller gets rolled up on here, causing an external rotation of his right ankle, which can cause a high-ankle sprain. He didn’t miss a play, but this is something to watch. We’ve seen many times in the past where offensive linemen finish out a game with a high-ankle, but then miss subsequent games
It’s reassuring that I did not see any reports of Miller being in a boot after the game.
🟢Avonte Maddox, S (2q 8:41) - Right elbow nerve
Maddox is holding his right elbow and flexing his fingers like he’s having nerve symptoms of numbness and tingling. He went to the locker room briefly, but returned to the game and looked just fine. I’m suspecting a simple nerve irritation like a “funny bone” (ulnar nerve). No concerns here.
🟢Rock Ya-Sin OT 4:05 - Upper chest contusion
It looks like Ya-Sin just got a cleat into the upper chest. He left briefly, but returned. No concern at all here.
Of particular note, Ya-Sin got through the game without any cramps, which was a problem for him on multiple occasions last season. That’s a good sign for his conditioning to start the season.
NOTABLES
🟡Christian Izien was inactive after being the only “Questionable” on the final injury report. I suspect he has a good chance of being active on Thursday Night.
🟡Mekhi Wingo was inactive. Technically, he was a “healthy” scratch, but he was also just coming off his second groin injury of the preseason.
🟡Jimmy Rolder was inactive. Another technically “healthy” scratch, but he had just recovered from a multi-week hamstring.
🟡Ennis Rakestraw was disappointingly inactive. He did have a mild low-ankle sprain recently, but this looks like a healthy scratch.
🟡Ahmed Hassanein was inactive, which was a slight surprise after his big preseason. There was no health concern for him entering the game.
Five Lions Rookies Active
The first game was an excellent start for the 2026 rookie class as 5 members were active.
🟢Blake Miller, OT: 1st round
🟢Derrick Moore, EDGE: 2nd round
🟢Keith Abney, CB: 5th round
🟢Skyler Gill-Howard, DT: 6th round
🟢Eric O’Neill, EDGE: UDFA
Programming note: I am heading to Buffalo this coming week for the Lions’ Thursday Night game, so my articles may be fewer and differently-abled, as I attempt to survive Niagara Falls while engorged with a ridiculous amount of Buffalo wings. Rest assured, I will return with a full review of the Bills’ new stadium, the Buffalo area, and most importantly, the wings. Follow me on X @JimmyLiaoMD for my updates and impressions on gameday.
Good grief. What an atrocious win. Mahogany tripping over his own feet, face-planting, and injuring himself was a microcosm for how that second half went for the Lions.
Our secondary got badly exposed but at least we face-planted into a W without hurting ourselves too badly.
Unfortunately, we won’t be nearly as fortunate in Buffalo.