The Detroit Lions will be missing an important part of their air attack when they take on the Jacksonville Jaguars on Sunday.
The team announced on Nov. 15 that tight end Sam LaPorta had been ruled out for the Week 11 showdown. LaPorta had missed three practices this week after suffering a shoulder injury in the team’s comeback win over the Houston Texans and had been trending in the wrong direction before the team made the official ruling on Friday.
The Lions are dealing with a number of other injuries this week, with key players missing on both sides of the ball.
Lions Ready to Call on Backups
LaPorta has been a key member of the offense this season, ranking third on the team with 32 receptions for 366 yards and three touchdowns. The Lions already made a move to fill the void left by his absence, elevating veteran James Mitchell from the practice squad to go along with backup tight ends Brock Wright and Shane Zylstra.
Lions passing game coordinator Tanner Engstrand told the Detroit Free Press that the team is confident that the group can step up in LaPorta’s absence.
“They’ve played plenty of ball before and so they just got to fill in and just one of them will take the role and maybe one of them plays a little bit more on third down and maybe another one plays a little bit more on first and second down,” Engstrand said. “So we’ll just kind of take that as it comes but we have all the confidence in the world that those guys are going to get in there and be able to execute with the guys and what we ask them to do, for sure.”
Lions Will Miss Other Key Players
The Lions have three other players joining LaPorta on the sidelines for Sunday’s game. The team also ruled out Brodric Martin, Ifeatu Melifonwu and Emmanuel Moseley, who are coming back from injured reserve but not yet ready to play.
Other players are nursing some nagging injuries. Cornerback Carlton Davis said he plans to play against the Jaguars despite breaking his left thumb in practice on Thursday, the Detroit News reported. Davis said he will play with a cast on his left hand and believes it shouldn’t limit him too much.
“I can still catch, somewhat,” Davis told the Free Press. “Just small adjustments in the game as far as using my hands and I guess maybe being a little bit more finesse, not too aggressive. I honestly feel like when I get in the game the adrenaline takes over and I just don’t give a [expletive] no more, that’s what I’m hoping or I think that’ll happen.”
The Lions have a chance to extend their lead atop the NFC against a 2-8 Jaguars team that has struggled against strong offenses. The Philadelphia Eagles won on Thursday to improve to 8-2, but the Lions can remain a game ahead of them against a Jaguars team that already ruled out quarterback Trevor Lawrence.
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