Some good injury news for the Detroit Lions when it comes to Taylor Decker and Josh Paschal.
The Detroit Lions took the field for their first training camp session of the year, and, unfortunately, there were several players sitting out due to injury—and one player who suffered an injury that shortened his day. Some of these injuries were expected, others weren’t, but we got plenty of updates from coach Dan Campbell on what to expect for many of these players.
Here’s a full list of players who were not participating in practice, and updates provided by the team.
Physically Unable to Perform list
- OT Taylor Decker
- OG Miles Frazier
- DT Alim McNeill
- DT Mekhi Wingo
- LB Malcolm Rodriguez
- CB Khalil Dorsey
While all six of these players remain sidelined, we spotted everyone but Wingo outside observing practice at one point or another.
The best news of the bunch was that Campbell said he expect starting left tackle Taylor Decker to rejoin practice right around their first preseason game in just over a week.
“We feel like there’s a good chance we can get Deck back after the Hall of Fame game,” Campbell said. “He’s good, he had cleaned out the shoulder a little bit and we’re going to work him back in when he’s ready to go—get the strength back—but he’s in a good place.”
We didn’t direct updates on anyone else from this list, but most of these injuries are not particularly surprising. As you may remember:
- Alim McNeill tore his ACL in December and is expected to miss regular season time
- Mekhi Wingo tore his meniscus, got surgery, and was hopeful to be ready for the start of training camp back in January.
- Malcolm Rodriguez tore his ACL on Thanksgiving, and Campbell “conservatively” estimated a November return .
- Khalil Dorsey broke his tibia and fibula in December. He was walking around in good spirits during Sunday’s practice. Back in January, Dorsey told the Detroit Free Press that doctors gave him a four-to-six month timeline of recovery .
- As for rookie Miles Frazier, the nature of his injury is currently unknown.
Physically unable to return/reserve
- DL Levi Onwuzurike
As we noted earlier on Sunday, Onwuzurike is out for the year after getting ACL surgery .
Non-football injury list
- DL Josh Paschal
- CB Stantley Thomas-Oliver
Campbell offered an update on Paschal, and it sounds like he’ll be ready right around the start of the season, possibly a little later.
“Paschal will be just a tick longer (than Decker), probably early September,” Campbell said. “Labor Day maybe we can start working him into practice. That’s the plan right now.”
It’s unclear what specifically Paschal is dealing with, but Campbell noted he had a clean-out surgery, similar to Decker.
Not on injury list, but didn’t practice
- EDGE Al-Quadin Muhammad
- LB Alex Anzalone
- LB Anthony Pittman
Campbell said that all three players passed the conditioning test, but was a little more cagey with why they didn’t practice—particularly as it pertains to Anzalone. Campbell insisted this was not a sit-in holdout for his contract situation . Instead, noting this about the three players;
“Just a couple little things. We’ve got to make sure they’re good injury-wise,” Campbell said.
After practice, Pittman told Pride of Detroit that he expects to practice Monday. Anzalone was not seen at practice.
Injured during practice
- CB Ennis Rakestraw
Rakestraw suffered a chest injury around the midway point of practice during an 11-on-11 drill. He was escorted off the field by a trainer who helped support his upper body. At this point, the severity of his injury is unknown, but he did not return to practice.