The Detroit Lions have announced their Week 3 injury designations for their game against the Atlanta Falcons, and they appear to be missing as many as five starters on Sunday.
Let’s look at the Lions’ Week 3 injury reports.
Decker will miss his second straight game after hurting his ankle in Week 1. Decker was listed as doubtful for last week’s game on Friday, then downgraded to out on Saturday. That he was on the right track to return to play. He worked with trainers more this week but was unable to join his teammates on the practise pitch. It’s possible he’ll be ready for Week 4 against the Packers, but with a short week (they play on Thursday), things are still up in the air.
According to coach Dan Campbell’s statements at Friday’s news conference, Vaitai will be out for a little longer than Decker.
“Yeah, I don’t feel good about him for this game,” Campbell admitted, “but he’s improved significantly since last week.” So it’s still a mystery (about Week 4). It just depends on how quickly he recovers. But he’s getting better. I can’t really offer you a time frame just yet.”
On the good side for Vaitai, the Lions believe they made the right decision not to place him on injured reserve because he is expected to return to play within the next three weeks.
Moseley has already missed two weeks of practise due to a hamstring injury sustained while recovering from an ACL tear. It’s a sad setback with no clear schedule for recovery at this time.
Joseph injured his hip early in Week 2 but was able to return to the game and finish it. Despite working with trainers this week, he was unable to practise and will not be available against the Falcons. With C.J. Gardner-Johnson on injured reserve this week, the Lions will likely start Tracy Walker and Ifeatu Melifonwu at safety.
Montgomery will have one more day to see if he can be cleared medically, and if not, he will most certainly be relegated to out on Saturday. If he receives enough clearance on Saturday, he will be examined again before the game on Sunday, with a game-time decision on the results of that examination.
If he is unable to play, rookie Jahmyr Gibbs will start and be spelled by Craig Reynolds and newly promoted Zonovan Knight.
