It’s been nearly two months since Sam LaPorta’s season suddenly ended with a mysterious back injury. The Detroit Lions tight end played nearly every snap of the team’s Week 9 game against the Washington
Commanders. Then he was on the injury report with a back injury. Then he was surprisingly put on injured reserve. Then coach Dan Campbell suddenly announced LaPorta underwent a procedure that will end his season.
We’ve never gotten an exact diagnosis on LaPorta’s injury, but on Wednesday, Campbell gave us a lot more details on the injury, including a hopeful timeline for the Pro Bowl tight end.
First, the bad news. Campbell admitted this was an injury that was serious enough that he was never in consideration for returning if the Lions made a deep run in the playoffs. He also said that with injuries like neck and back, there is just a level of uncertainty, making it hard to predict how the body will react to treatment.
“Those can be concerning just because you don’t know. You don’t know exactly what’s going to come out of that, how do they recover,” Campbell said. “So, that’s always going to kind of be back there a little bit until either he is fully healed or he’s not quite there.”
The relatively good news is that Campbell, despite the uncertainty, is hopeful LaPorta will be ready by training camp, giving him a shot at a full, healthy season in 2026.
“I feel like next year, that certainly isn’t off the table early in the year. You’d like to believe training camp we’ll get him,” Campbell said. “But you’re talking about a back (injury). And he’s improving, but yet he’s not completely healed.”
Campbell also gave a little more details as to what was ailing him, without giving a specific diagnosis.
“He’s rehabbing every day. Certainly, it feels better after the surgery than he did right before, so that’s a positive. Took a lot of stress off that nerve, so we’ll see,” Campbell said.
It’s been a tough year for Lions tight ends. Shane Zylstra suffered an ankle injury in Week 2 that caused him to miss 11 games. LaPorta’s injury happened at the midway point of the year, meaning he’ll miss out on the final eight games. Brock Wright, who suffered a neck injury shortly after LaPorta, will miss the final six games of the year. Even Campbell had to admit it has hurt the team missing those guys for large swaths of the season.
“Tight ends are a big part of what we do. Certainly the run game, but the pass game as well,” Campbell said. “So, when you lose your top two guys, it becomes a little harder for sure. So, it’s affected us.”
In addition to LaPorta, three other key Lions players will be spending a lot of their 2026 offseason rehabbing. Cornerback Terrion Arnold, and safeties Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch suffered long-term injuries this year. Joseph missed the final three months of the season with a concerning knee injury, Branch suffered a torn Achilles in Week 14, and Arnold suffered a shoulder injury that required a pair of surgeries, the last of which occured this week.
