An already banged up Detroit Lions football team walked out of Sunday's 48-45 loss to Seattle with a couple more injuries to deal with.
Already missing running back D’Andre Swift, wide receivers DJ Chark and Amon-Ra St. Brown, guard Jonah Jackson, kicker Austin Seibert and defensive lineman John Cominsky Sunday due to injuries, the Lions are now hoping for some good news on a few more injuries suffered Sunday.
The most concerning of those is probably the foot injury suffered by wide receiver Quintez Cephus early in the second half that prevented him from returning to the game. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said he didn't know the severity of Cephus' injury immediately following the game.
"He could be a little longer, but I don't know what that is," Campbell said of Cephus. "I don't know how bad that is yet."
Offensive lineman Evan Brown, who was starting at guard in place of Jackson, suffered a leg injury late in the game and needed help from trainers getting off the field. That one didn't look good, but we'll have to wait until Monday for an update. Brown's been one of Detroit's unsung heroes the last two seasons with his ability to play both center and guard at a high level.
Cornerback Amani Oruwariye left the game briefly with a neck injury but returned. Rookie linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez also left briefly with what looked like a shoulder issue, but he also returned.
"Well, Amani came back and Rodrigo," Campbell said. "We'll see tomorrow how they were. But that's usually a good sign they were able to come back."
View photos from the Seattle Seahawks vs. Detroit Lions Week 4 game at Ford Field on Sunday, Oct. 2 in Detroit, MI.
CLOSE LOSSES
The Lions lost their ninth one-score game since Campbell took over as head coach ahead of the 2021 season. That's the most in the NFL over that span of 21 games.
It's got to be a gut punch to Campbell and this young Lions football team that they can't seem to consistently close out these games.
"I told the team, the worst thing we can do is start pointing fingers at each other. We can't do that, man, we can't let anybody pull us apart because as dismal as it is right now, we're not as far away as it feels," Campbell said after the game. "But until we do something about it, quit talking about it, doesn't matter."
CLOCK PLAY
Detroit's defense thought they got off the field late in the third quarter on an incomplete pass by Seattle quarterback Geno Smith on a 3rd and 16 play. But after talking about it for several minutes, the officials huddled up and determined there was an issue with the clock before the play was snapped and they had blown the play dead.
"After the intentional grounding play, we had set up for third down and our side judge noticed an error in the game clock," referee Gregg Bell explained after the game. "Prior to that snap, he came running in and shut it down to fix the game clock. So, we fixed the game clock to where the clock was when the ball hit the ground on the grounding play.
"So essentially, that third down you're referencing never happened because the side judge came and shut down prior to the snap. So, we never had, if you will, that third down play because the side judge came running in and shut that down prior to fixing the game clock."
Seattle got a redo and took advantage of the Lions sending the house on the next play, running a draw with Rashaad Penny that went for a 36-yard touchdown and increased their lead to 38-23.
REYNOLDS CONFIDENCE
Quarterback Jared Goff and wide receiver Josh Reynolds are both playing some good ball right now. Reynolds caught seven passes for 81 yards for a depleted Lions receiver corps.
"Yeah, I trust him. I trust him a lot and we're on the same page and our communication is great and he's playing as confident as I've ever seen him," Goff said of Reynolds after the game.
EXTRA POINTS
- Detroit has rushed for 130-or-more yards (145 Sunday vs. Seattle) in each of the first four games of a season for the first time since 1980 and only the fourth time overall in franchise history.
- Rodriguez finished with 10 total tackles (seven solo), one tackle for loss, one quarterback hit, a special teams tackle and a forced fumble. He became the first Lions rookie to produce at least 10 tackles and a tackle for loss in a game since DeAndre Levy in 2010 vs. Chicago.