Lions head coach Dan Campbell doesn’t regret his decision to start his key contributors in Detroit’s Week 18 game against the Minnesota Vikings. The full-throttle head coach wanted the Lions to finish the regular season on a high note and at least do what they could to earn the No. 2 seed in the NFC.
Unfortunately for Campbell and the Lions, the decision led to a knee injury to star tight end Sam LaPorta. LaPorta was carted off the field in the first half and ruled out at the start of the third quarter.
”The best way I can put it is, it’s probably not as bad as it looked. But it’s not good news,” Campbell told reporters after Detroit’s win over Minnesota, per the team. “We’ll know more tomorrow. But I know it looked awful, it’s not as bad as that. But that doesn’t mean it looks good in the immediate here.”
While Campbell did not provide an exact diagnosis, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport reported LaPorta suffered a hyperextended knee and a bone bruise. Rapoport noted that LaPorta is likely to miss some time.
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“You don’t want anybody to get hurt, especially in a game like this,” Campbell told reporters. “It’s a tough deal. It’s tough. I know this, you’re really kind of either all-in or you’re all-out. We were going. We needed to do that.
“I would say all in all, we got out of it pretty good.”
The Lions would have jumped from No. 3 to No. 2 in the NFC playoffs with a win and losses by both the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys. However, with the Cowboys holding a 35-10 lead entering the fourth quarter against the Washington Commanders, it’s likely Detroit will remain No. 3 in the seedings in its Week 18 win.
Featured image via David Reginek/USA TODAY Sports Images
