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Detroit Lions: Dan Campbell 'hopeful' Sam LaPorta can play; Za'Darius Smith debut up next
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- Detroit Lions: Dan Campbell 'hopeful' Sam LaPorta can play; Za'Darius Smith debut up next
Sam LaPorta injured his left shoulder in Sunday's comeback win over the Houston Texans , but Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell is "hopeful" LaPorta won't miss more time with the injury.
"It'll be day-to-day but not — we don't feel like this is something like, 'Oh, man, this going to be a long, nagging injury,'" Campbell said. "I think we'll get through it, I'm hopeful this week, but I can't say that. He's questionable."
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LaPorta finished second on the Lions as a rookie with 86 catches for 889 yards, but hasn't had the same impact while battling injuries this fall.
Sam LaPorta of the Detroit Lions makes a catch during the first quarter against the Houston Texans at NRG Stadium on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024 in Houston, Texas.
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A second-round pick out of Iowa in 2023, LaPorta has 25 catches for 366 yards in nine games since returning from a preseason hamstring injury. He had a season-high 66 yards on three catches Sunday, catching a 20-yard touchdown pass from Jared Goff early in the second quarter.
LaPorta told the Free Press on Sunday that tests taken after the game revealed "nothing major." He spoke as he dressed in front of his locker, where he gingerly used his left arm to help put on his socks.
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Campbell said left tackle Taylor Decker is "trending the right way" to return for this week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars after suffering a shoulder injury in practice last Thursday that kept him out of the Texans game.
In years past, the Lions have moved right tackle Penei Sewell to left tackle when Decker was out with injury. On Sunday, they used Dan Skipper at left tackle and kept Sewell on the right side, due in part to the timing of when Decker suffered his injury.
"When the injury happened with Decker and feeling like there's a chance he may not play, the hay was kind of already in the barn and so let's leave Sewell at right, that's where he took his reps," Campbell said. "We got into Thursday and, man, we're running, we're in pads, live reps, we're moving, and that's where he got his reps, and then Skipper filled in at left tackle and got those reps there, and so, let's not make the switch to where, 'OK, Skip, I know you got those reps there, go to the right. Sewell, vice versa.' We just felt like it was better to do that."
Goff threw five interceptions and the Lions struggled to move the ball much of the day against the Titans, but Sewell had several key blocks late to spark the comeback, including a block on a screen pass to Amon-Ra St. Brown that went for a touchdown.
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"He made some unbelievable blocks and, man, I thought our backs ran hard and I thought Gibbs set up a number of blocks, did a really good job on the perimeter," Campbell said. "That one he almost takes it all the way down the sideline. He kinds of dips and sets up Sewell's block and goes around the perimeter and barely steps out. But yeah, Sewell, he's a – man, if we had two Sewells. One would be a tight end, just saying."
'Ready to roll'
Veteran pass rusher Za'Darius Smith will make his Lions debut this weekend against the Jaguars after sitting out the Texans game five days following his trade from the Cleveland Browns.
Campbell said he gave consideration to playing Smith despite his limited practice reps, but preferred to err on the side of caution. The Lions acquired Smith in a deadline deal Tuesday, then gave him Wednesday and Thursday off for personal reasons.
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"There was a thought about playing him, but we just felt like the right thing to do was just sit him this week," Campbell said "We'll let him get his bearing and, there again, that's a game off his body and now we can go."
Smith was on the sideline against the Texans, where he was actively working with some of the Lions' other pass rushers to decipher Houston's protection calls. He said in a postgame interview on NBC that he "hate(d)" that Campbell gave him last week off.
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"He's a veteran guy, he's been around it and he's wholly embraced the eight wins, 'Hey, we got eight,'" Campbell said. "Look, it's one of the reasons he's been a good player. It's not just the physical ability he's got, he's been around it, he's seen it, he's pretty instinctive, he understands the game. And so those little things that come up, you never know how that's going to hit with one of our players in real time. So, man, those are good. Look, he's — I know he just got here, but he's in, he's in it and he's ready to go. I know he was chomping at the bit to play and he's about to play, so he's going to be ready to roll."
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline" at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday at Our Lady of Victory in Northville.
Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions: Dan Campbell 'hopeful' Sam LaPorta can play vs. Jaguars
