The Lions have officially dodged another bullet. After it originally appeared they might have lost two starters for the season, they’ve now got another dose of good news.
Starting linebacker Jarrad Davis is dealing with a high ankle sprain, a source told Ian Rapoport of NFL Network (Twitter link). We had already heard earlier today that starting center Frank Ragnow was only dealing with a minor ankle sprain. While a high ankle sprain is certainly nothing too minor, it’s definitely better than initially expected, and Rapoport writes that “the word is he’s already feeling better and it’s a long way from what many thought last night.”
That being said, Rapoport notes that Davis will still miss some regular season time. Depending on how quickly it heals, it looks like Davis will likely miss at least the first month or so of the season. It’ll be a pretty big blow to the Lions for their first handful of games, as Davis is one of their most critical players.
Drafted in the first round out of Florida back in 2017, Davis has started all 30 games that he’s appeared in over the last two seasons. Last year, he had 100 tackles and six sacks while playing 99 percent of the defensive snaps. Davis easily played the most snaps on the team last season and since Detroit’s linebacking corp is already pretty thin, they’ll be feeling his absence big time. The Lions open the season at Arizona, and they’ll be doing it without their emerging stud.
Could have been a lot worse
Very fortunate!