Lions Top 10 Injury News of 2025: #2 The Decimated Secondary
The Legion of Whom was called upon early and often to rescue the defense
The decimation of the Lions’ secondary was so swift and so complete that it deserves the #2 spot on the Lions Top 10 Injury News of the 2025 Season.
By Week 7, the entire starting secondary was already injured, leading to an impressive “Legion of Whom” backup performance during the Detroit Lions impressive 24-9 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Here is the list of Lions’ secondary players affected in 2025, along with number of games missed and medical concern level heading into 2026:
Detroit Lions 2025 Secondary Injuries
(In parentheses is number of games missed in 2025). *Returning players
(11 games missed) *Kerby Joseph, S - Left knee. Medical concern level 10/10.
(4) *Brian Branch, S - Right Achilles. Medical concern level 8/10.
(6) *DJ Reed, CB - Left hamstring. Medical concern level 4/10.
(9) Terrion Arnold, CB - 2 shoulder surgeries, concussion. Medical concern level 6/10.
(17) *Ennis Rakestraw, CB - Shoulder surgery. Medical concern level 6/10.
(17) *Dan Jackson, S - Leg. Medical concern level 6/10.
(2) *Thomas Harper, S - Concussions. Medical concern level 7/10.
(6) *Khalil Dorsey, CB - Concussion, wrist. Medical concern level 1/10.
(3) *Avonte Maddox, S - Hamstring, illness, back. Medical concern level 5/10.
(5) Daniel Thomas, S - Forearm fracture
(17, waived) Morice Norris, S - Concussion with seizure
(0) Amik Robertson, CB - Hand
Here is the much-shorter list of secondary players who filled in, and managed to avoid any significant injuries:
*Rock Ya-Sin, CB - Medical concern level 2/10.
*Nick Whiteside, CB - Medical concern level 3/10.
*Loren Strickland, S
Erick Hallett, S
Arthur Maulet, CB
Jalen Mills, S
The sheer number of players affected by injury is jaw-dropping. The very high severity of many of the injuries is staggering, and has left residual effects into 2026.
The “next man up” philosophy only goes so far when this many injuries hits a single position group. At some point, you run out of “men”.
2026 Secondary Additions
The Lions added many healthy players with low medical concerns in the offseason to bolster the secondary depth:
Keith Abney, CB - 5th-round rookie. Medical concern level 0/10.
Aamaris Brown, CB - UDFA. Medical concern level 3/10.
De’Shawn Rucker, CB - UDFA. Medical concern level 2/10.
Chuck Clark, S - Free agent. Medical concern level 3/10.
Roger McCreary, CB - Free agent. Medical concern level 2/10.
Christian Izien, CB/S - Free agent. Medical concern level 2/10.
2026 Outlook
Unfortunately, the injuries to the secondary in 2025 will have major carryover to the 2026 season.
Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch are highly uncertain for large portions of the 2026 season.
Terrion Arnold was released after two shoulder surgeries and eight felony charges.
DJ Reed (hamstring), Ennis Rakestraw (shoulder), Thomas Harper (concussions), and Dan Jackson (leg) have reliability question marks coming off significant injuries.
The Legion of Whom, which made occasional, impressive appearances in 2025, may need to become a permanent fixture in 2026.