The Detroit Lions were ravaged by injuries for most of last season, and the team limped into the playoffs as the No. 1 seed with several injuries on defense, including star pass-rusher Aidan Hutchinson.
Though the regular season is a little over four weeks away, the Lions are still battling the injury bug a week into training camp.
The team has already announced that starting defensive end Levi Onwuzurike will miss the regular season after undergoing offseason ACL surgery, and several other defensive contributors have went down with varying injuries this offseason including defensive tackles Alim McNeill and Mekhi Wingo, defensive end Josh Paschal, linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez, cornerbacks Terrion Arnold and Khalil Dorsey, and safety Dan Jackson, who was placed on injured reserve.
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The punches kept coming on Monday as head coach Dan Campbell announced that cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr., Detroit’s second-round pick in the 2024 draft, would miss some significant time with a shoulder injury.
“[It’s] tough to say [how long he’ll miss],” Campbell told reporters on Monday. “It’s a shoulder. I think it’s going to be a while, at best.
“… We’re getting it checked now, and we’ll know more in due time. You hate it for the kid, you hate it. It’s not his fault, and just one of those tough deals. All you can do is try to get it better, rehab, and try to come back stronger and move on — that’s all you can do.”
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The 23-year-old defensive back was limited to just eight games during his rookie season as he battled a hamstring injury that lingered all season long and limited him to just 46 defensive snaps and derailed his opportunity to start as a first-year CB.
“It kind of was a redshirt year,” Rakestraw said, via the team’s official website. “But you don’t get to pick those situations. Don’t nobody just pick to be hurt. You know, I never picked it for myself.”
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With Carlton Davis now with the New England Patriots and Kindle Vildor with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Rakestraw was seemingly poised to play a key role in Detroit’s secondary along with Arnold, D.J. Reed, and Amik Robertson.
And despite having a new injury setback, it’s clear based off how he handled last year Rakestraw will be highly motivated once he is cleared to play again.
“Every situation that came to me — ask anybody in the training room, anybody in the building — I took it under the chin and I kept going, showed face, smiled every day and it just didn’t go my way,” Rakestraw said of his injury woes last season. “…Now, let’s develop a new habit, new body and be available. That’s all I can do.”