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Detroit Lions sad to lose Alex Anzalone to injury, but not panicking: 'We'll be fine'
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- Detroit Lions sad to lose Alex Anzalone to injury, but not panicking: 'We'll be fine'
For the fourth time this season, the Detroit Lions have lost a key defensive starter to a significant injury.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said linebacker Alex Anzalone broke his left forearm in the third quarter of Sunday's 52-6 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars and will miss 6-to-8 weeks.
Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone (34) celebrates a play against Jacksonville Jaguars during the first half at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Nov. 17, 2024.
Anzalone was injured when he was hit on the arm by teammate Brian Branch while trying to make a tackle on Jaguars running back Travis Etienne Jr. With seven games left in the regular season, he might not return until the playoffs.
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"It's always hard losing a player like (Anzalone)," cornerback Amik Robertson said. "Of course we probably don't have another Anz, but we got younger guys that can step up and finish ... We got guys out there playing for one another, I think we'll be fine."
The Lions (9-1) have the best record in the NFC despite playing much of the season without three of their top pass rushers. Defensive end Marcus Davenport (torn triceps) and outside linebacker Derrick Barnes (torn MCL) suffered likely season-ending injuries in the Lions' Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals , and Aidan Hutchinson broke his leg in a Week 6 win over the Dallas Cowboys .
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Hutchinson, who led the NFL with 7.5 sacks at the time of his injury, is hoping to return for the Super Bowl.
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Starting cornerback Carlton Davis III also is playing through a broken thumb he suffered in practice last week. The Lions held him out of the second half of Sunday's game.
Anzalone has been one of the Lions' best defensive players since signing with the team as a free agent in 2021. He entered Sunday third on the team in tackles behind Jack Campbell and Brian Branch and is in his fourth season as a captain.
The Lions, who also are without linebacker Jalen Reeves-Maybin (shoulder) at least through Thanksgiving, used a combination of players in Anzalone's absence Sunday, playing Malcolm Rodriguez , Ben Niemann and Ezekiel Turner snaps at weakside linebacker. The Jaguars (2-9) did not score in the second half.
"In this scheme all you have to do is be yourself within the scheme and do your job," Robertson said. "And we'll be fine. And always like Dan Campbell said, play with effort. If everybody's always around the ball, doing their job the defense is going – we're going to be able to get turnovers and we know if we get the ball back to the offense we know what's going to happen."
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Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline" from 7-8:30 p.m. Monday at the Applebee's by Oakland University in Auburn Hills. Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions not fretting after Alex Anzalone joins long injury list
