Alim McNeill never quite looked right in his return from a torn ACL last season, and now the Detroit Lions' best interior defensive lineman is being evaluated for an injury again.
McNeill left on Day 3 of training camp Friday after stumbling through a pile-up early in the Lions' second 11-on-11 period of practice.
Both McNeill and linebacker Derrick Barnes walked gingerly to sideline after the run play, and McNeill walked to the locker room with linebacker Jimmy Rolder and a trainer later in the period.
Neither McNeill nor Rolder returned to the field, and the Lions said both were being evaluated for injuries.
For McNeill, who left the field under his own power, the injury, however minor, comes amidst a productive start to camp and with the Lions
counting on him to play a significant role on their defense this fall.
McNeill played well in the Lions' first two non-padded practices, and Lions coach Dan Campbell said before practice Friday "he looks like he's back to what he was."
"He's healthy," Campbell said. "And I told you, he would never say anything about it, he never did last year. But when we went back and watched clip after clip, back to back, to back, to back, to back, to back of all the season, when you start going through all of these, he was favoring the leg a little bit. I don't think he even realized it. So it's just good to have him back, man. He looks great, he's moving well and he's a huge piece for us on defense.”
Third-year defensive tackle Mekhi Wingo took McNeill's spot with the first-team defense alongside Tyleik Williams in the Lions' final 11-on-11 period of practice, while Joe Bachie took Rolder's spot with the second-team defense.
The Lions have a day off of camp Saturday, Aug. 1, before returning for practice Sunday. They have their first padded practice of summer on Monday, Aug. 3.
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Alim McNeill, Jimmy Rolder leave Lions practice with injuries
