After the Detroit Lions’ first training camp practice, the team made a rare roster move. Despite passing his physical and practicing on Wednesday, Giovanni Manu was placed on the Non-Football Injury list. That raised questions as to whether he got hurt after practice in a non-football setting or if something else was going on.
On Thursday, coach Dan Campbell gave some clarity, and it wasn’t good news for the third-year offensive tackle. According to Campbell, Manu had an offseason injury that wasn’t reported
to the team, and he started to feel it again after practice.
“We obviously put him on NFI. And he had an injury, a previous injury over the summer that was not disclosed,” Campbell said. “And so (he) came off the practice field, didn’t feel good, got it checked, sure enough, that’s what it was.”
Campbell estimated Manu will be out around three months, which means he’s almost certainly going to start the season on the PUP list and miss at least the first four games of the season.
“So, he will be out for a period of time. I don’t know how long that’s going to be; call it 12 weeks, 14 weeks. I don’t know, we’ll figure it out all down the road, but he is NFI,” Campbell said.
Let’s get into the rest of the Lions’ injury report from Day 2 of Detroit Lions training camp.
Not practicing:
- RB Jahmyr Gibbs (not-injury related)
- TE Tyler Conklin (PUP, calf)
- OT Giovanni Manu (NFI)
- G Christian Mahogany (NFI)
- S Kerby Joseph (PUP, knee)
- S Brian Branch (PUP, Achilles)
Gibbs continues his sit-in for the second day in a row, but Campbell emphasized that the team is not overly concerned right now.
“At some point, it’ll all get done. It’s going to get done. I’m not even sweating it,” Campbell said.
In Gibbs’ place, Isiah Pacheco and Sione Vaki continued to split time with the first-team offense.
Tyler Conklin was estimated by Campbell to sit for two to three weeks, so we’ll likely see him around mid-August, assuming there is no setback.
After working a significant amount on the training hill on Wednesday, it looked like it was a day off from field work for Mahogany. But Campbell suggested he could be back relatively soon. Juice Scruggs continued to work as the first-team left guard in Mahogany’s absence.
Joseph also was not doing any field work after an intense workout on Wednesday. The Lions safety spoke to the media after practice, but didn’t offer much insight into his timeline for a return, and remained optimistic about his chances.
“I’m super optimistic. I never gave up,” Joseph said. “I’m always going to work hard. All I do is work! If you see me outside, I’m working.”
Branch continues to be outside with the team at practice going through mental reps, but he doesn’t appear ready for true on-field work with a trainer yet.
Not practicing, but working on the side
- S Christian Izien (NFI, flu)
Izien continues to look the closest to being able to return. For the second straight day, he was working with a trainer in a helmet and pads, as he works through the flu.
