In the midst of the Detroit Lions’ 41-31 butt-whipping at the hands of the Buffalo Bills, they also suffered an injury that they can ill-afford. Early in the second quarter, Avonte Maddox took a friendly-fire shot from teammate Chuck Clark, and eventually had to be carted off with what the Lions called a foot injury. While originally listed as questionable, he was downgraded to out to start the second half.
After the game, Maddox was seen in the locker room in crutches. It’s important not to overreact
to that, as crutches can sometimes be more precautionary than anything. However, Lions coach Dan Campbell was not optimistic about Maddox’s status, while also admitting there needs to be more testing to find out.
“I don’t know. Maddox is pretty tough, so when he doesn’t come back, that makes me nervous,” Campbell said. “But I won’t know until tomorrow for sure.”
Detroit is in a tough spot at the safety position. Both starters—Kerby Joseph (knee) and Brian Branch (Achilles)—started the season on the Physically Unable to Perform list and must miss at least another two games. However, both are eligible to return to practice now. And there appears to be optimism at least one of them could be ready relatively soon.
But on the 53-man roster, outside of Maddox, the Lions only have two other pure safeties rostered: veteran Chuck Clark and Thomas Harper. Christian Izien is also an option to drop back to safety, but the Lions have recently shifted him into a significant role as the team’s primary nickel cornerback.
If Maddox’s injury is serious, another option would be to bring up defensive back Nick Whiteside from the practice squad. While he has thrived mostly as an outside cornerback, he got some late looks at safety in training camp and performed moderately well.
For now, let’s just hope for the best, because the last thing the Lions can afford right now is more issues in the secodnary.
