It appears Giovanni Manu will be sidelined for a while.
“Call it 12 weeks, 14 weeks, I don’t know,” Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said Thursday, July 30.
Manu, a reserve offensive tackle, was added to the nonfootball injury list Wednesday after participating in the first practice of training camp. It was a surprising bit of news, given the order of events. But it turns out, according to Campbell, “he had an injury, a previous injury over the summer, that was not disclosed.”
“He came off the practice field, didn’t feel good, got it checked. Sure enough, that’s what it was. So, he will be out for a period of time.”
It’s the latest setback for Manu, a 2024 fourth-round
pick whose second year with the Lions was cut short last October because of a lateral meniscus tear in his right knee. Viewed as a developmental prospect after playing college football in Canada, Manu didn’t log a single snap as a rookie. After making his regular-season debut last September, he appeared in four games and started in place of former Lion Taylor Decker in a Week 5 victory over Cincinnati. But soon thereafter, Manu landed on injured reserve and never played again. His future with the organization then grew murkier this offseason after the Lions signed Larry Borom and drafted Blake Miller in the first round. Both, like Manu, are tackles. With Penei Sewell moving to the left side to become Jared Goff’s new blindside protector, Miller is expected to become the new starter on the right end of the line and Borom the top backup.
“This franchise is always going to do what’s best for them,” Manu told the Free Press in June. “And I 100% agree. That’s what you want to do as front office people, coaches … But all those things, it’s out of my control.”
Manu was determined to show the team’s brass he could still be a major contributor.
“This,” he said, “is my prove-it year.”
But it appears that for the foreseeable future, Manu won’t have the opportunity to show what he can do on the field.
Contact Rainer Sabin at rsabin@freepress.com. Follow him @RainerSabin on X.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Dan Campbell: Lions OT Gio Manu out with previously undisclosed injury
