Lions Top 10 injury news of 2024 - Recap & Honorable mentions

USA Today

4 hours ago

With so many key defensive injuries last season, some stories were going to miss the cut. Here, I present the "honorable" mentions.
But first, the Top 10 recap....
No. 10: Alex Anzalone's forearm
No. 9: Ifeatu Melifonwu's turbulent year
No. 8: Christian Mahogany's delayed debut
No. 7: James Houston's ill-fated comeback
No. 6: David Montgomery's mysterious knee
No. 5: Carlton Davis jaw fracture
No. 4: The fortuitous offense
No. 3: Alim McNeill's knee
No. 2: Calamitous number of defensive injuries
No. 1: Aidan Hutchinson
HONORABLE MENTIONS
Marcus Davenport elbow - September 22, 2024
Going into the season, there were hopes that Davenport would be able to solidify the EDGE position opposite Aidan Hutchinson. Those hopes were dashed in Week 3.
Reports are that the injury was a triceps rupture. Davenport ended up having surgery and missed the rest of the year.
As an unrestricted free agent, he re-signed with the Lions to a 1-year deal with $1.65 million guaranteed plus over $3 million in incentives. The low guarantee implies that NFL teams had concerns about his availability.
So far this offseason, he seems to be doing well. He has been wearing an elbow wrap, but was a full participant in June OTA.
Derrick Barnes MCL/PCL - September 22, 2024
Barnes was a versatile, starting LB for the Lions until his season ended in Week 3.
Barnes had surgery for this injury and missed the rest of the year. During the offseason, the Lions signed him to a substantial 3-year deal worth up to $25.5 million with $16 million guaranteed. The contract suggests that the Lions are confident in his recovery.
This offseason, Barnes still had significant right leg muscle atrophy and was a limited participant in OTA. However, he is expected to be ready for the season.
Malcolm Rodriguez ACL - November 28, 2024
With Barnes and Alex Anzalone (forearm fracture) both out, Rodriguez was doing a good job stabilizing the LB position until his injury in Week 13.
Rodriguez was the other ACL injury for the Lions last season along with Alim McNeill. With a typical recovery time of 10-11 months, an October return is anticipated. Recently, Dan Campbell stated that November was the probable return timeline. Thus, a return on November 2 after the bye seems like a logical target.
Rodriguez is heading into the final year of his 4-year rookie contract, which gives him plenty of motivation to show proof of recovery.
Friendly fire injuries
With so many injuries, there were attempts to try to find a cause. In this earlier Lions Wire article, I complied a list of injuries caused by Lions colliding with each other. This list included Amik Robertson, Alex Anzalone twice, Aidan Hutchinson, Khalil Dorsey, Terrion Arnold, and Carlton Davis.
The conclusion was that avoidable friendly fire was not a significant factor in the number of injuries sustained last season.
Jake Bates - December 30, 2024
Let's not neglect the specialists. Here we see Bates and the 49ers turf working "something" out during the game. Was this pain? Or was this pleasure? Probably a bit of both.
Uncharacteristically, Bates missed two extra points that day which raised some concern. Fortunately, he bounced back the next game with a perfect 5 for 5 day. While the mystery of Bates' dalliance with the turf may never be solved, at least there was a happy ending.