No, the Detroit Lions aren’t cursed.
Not anymore. Not after Jeff Daniels and Peyton Manning dunked a helmet into a literal tub of whiskey at Ford Field almost four years ago and liberated the specter of Bobby Layne.
At least the Lions are supposed to be free of the curse. Then news breaks, like it did Thursday, Aug. 20, and it’s fair to wonder if the hex remains.
Coach Dan Campbell told reporters that star tight end Sam LaPorta, who missed eight games after back surgery last season, is dealing with a “hip.”
Which is to say, he hurt his hip.
Campbell said the organization feels good about LaPorta’s prospects for the long term. He couldn’t say if LaPorta would be ready for the season
opener on Sept. 13, though.
If he’s not, he’ll be missed, clearly; his absence changes the offense – in nine games with him, the Lions averaged 31.4 point; in eight without, 24.8
Likewise, the absence of center Cade Mays – added in free agency this spring – will affect the offense, especially the run game. How could it not?
Mays will be back 4-6 weeks into the season. When news broke that he’d broken a bone in his wrist, the collective groan was heard from the Detroit River to the Soo Locks. Not because so many are familiar with his game – again, he just got here – but because of what he represents: A chance to move on from last season.
Meanwhile, the rookies are having a bit of tough luck: a hamstring injury took out linebacker Jimmy Rolder, a fourth-round pick, for most of training camp – though he should be back early in the regular season -- and an ACL tear ended the season of fifth-round pick Kendrick Law before it began. Second-round pick Derrick Moore, an edge rusher from Michigan, is back after missing most of camp with a groin injury.
Then there is Ennis Rakestraw Jr., hobbled in Thursday’s practice with a injury apparently suffered without contact. The 2024 second-rounder out of Missouri has hardly seen the field over his first two seasons, missing most of his rookie year with a hamstring injury and all of last season after shoulder surgery in August.
Rakestraw has been through it, but not because he’s a Lion. He’s just been unlucky.
As for the Lions? They’ve been unlucky, too – particularly the last two seasons, when a barrage of injuries gutted their defense in 2024 and thinned their ranks in 2025.
And yet, as many missed games due to injuries as the Lions had a year ago, the Chicago Bears had roughly as many.
The Packers lost Micah Parsons last season, just as the Lions lost Adrian Hutchinson for much of the season before. Losing all that pass-rushing power thins a defense, no doubt. Losing a quarterback thins everything.
Every season, teams lose irreplaceable players. Just as in every training camp, teams ... lose irreplaceable players. Check the fantasy football sites and you’ll see: Every team is navigating injuries at the moment.
This is football. The injuries stack up as soon as the pads come out, and sometimes even before.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, for example, have three receivers who’ve missed time this month, and their best offensive lineman, Tristan Wirfs – also one of the best in the NFL – strained his hamstring earlier this summer and didn’t practice until this week. You can bet the Bucs are nervous.
The New Orleans Saints lost promising rookie receiver Jordyn Tyson for two months, and the Bears’ secondary is decimated, in part because major free-agent addition Coby Bryant hyperextended his knee and will miss 8-10 weeks.
On it goes, in nearly every NFL city – the game is undefeated that way. The injuries aren’t spread equally among the franchises, of course, and some years some teams endure more.
The Lions have endured their share. But so have others. And while news like Thursday’s can make a fan question their football faith – especially in light of the last two seasons – the fanbases are left with similar questions wherever the NFL snaps the ball.
The Lions may be unlucky, at times. They are not alone.
Contact Shawn Windsor: swindsor@freepress.com. Follow him @shawnwindsor.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Don't let Lions' latest injury make you think they're cursed again
