As the Lions’ run of extensions continues with Taylor Decker — and potentially Alim McNeill — they will be without one of their defensive line regulars for an extended stretch. John Cominsky‘s injury at practice Tuesday will likely sideline him for the entire regular season.
A cart transported Cominsky off the practice field, and ESPN.com’s Adam Schefter reports the veteran D-lineman suffered a torn MCL. This injury is not necessarily a season-ender, but Cominsky is expected to miss months. The playoffs may be the target date, per Schefter. This will be a five- or six-month injury, according to NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo.
This is a setback to a Lions team that played Cominsky on 56% of its defensive snaps last season. Initially claimed off waivers — in an interesting transaction, as seven other teams submitted claims for the former Falcon — Cominsky has become a quality piece up front for the Lions. He played 60% of the team’s defensive snaps in 2022, rebounding after falling out of favor in Atlanta.
While Pro Football Focus slotted Cominsky 73rd among interior defenders, the advanced metrics site placed him in the top 30 at the position as a run defender. The former fourth-round pick has totaled six sacks and 20 QB hits during his two-season Detroit stay, faring well enough in 2022 to bring the Lions to re-sign him — at two years and $8.5MM — last March.
Working more as an interior presence, Cominsky leaves a void for a Lions team that does not yet have D.J. Reader back from the torn quad that ended his 2023 season in Cincinnati. McNeill remains the Lions’ top interior pass rusher, though the team did not see much from third-rounder Brodric Martin during a 28-snap rookie season. Levi Onwuzurike remains on the roster as well. Cominsky, however, trailed only McNeill for snaps by a Lions interior defender. This will require an adjustment for the defending NFC North champs.
That sucks. For those who don’t delve too deeply into the Lions’ games or their D-line situation, Cominsky is the quintessential dirty work player up front for them. He isn’t the best pass rusher, but he is adequate in that area. Where Cominsky shines is in plugging gaps, collapsing running lanes, and reliable “till the play is over” effort wherever he lines up. He isn’t a DT by size, but he plays with the skillset of a run stopping, gap stuffer who can outplay his size to a degree inside. Cominsky doesn’t have the pass rush numbers of Hutchinson on the outside, and likely never will, but the Lions really relied on him to set the edge outside and hold it inside when he moved in there next to the mostly unnoticed but definitely star level Alim McNeill.
The Reader signing should help buoy the run defense inside, and as such this probably hurts less than it would have last year. Still, Cominsky is a valuable Lion, even if one’s one who doesn’t show up on the stat sheet, and likely will never be a household name. Hopefully for Detroit he can recover well and be a valuable reinforcement late in the season.
Good man
All the best in recovery
I hope he heals quickly. I also hope the Lions are bad this year. 😉
I think Martin could potentially develop into a player similar to McNeil. I’m surprised he didn’t get more playing time last season. I don’t have as much hope and faith in Levi. Hope I’m wrong though.
Levi is apparently having a great camp so far so hopefully it continues and he’ll be able to fill the void of the loss of the Commish. Wishing The Commish a full and speedy recovery