2:04pm: A brutal stretch for the Lions will impact the team’s backfield. Dan Campbell announced Monday afternoon Montgomery is set to undergo season-ending knee surgery. This will certainly change how Detroit proceeds on offense, as Montgomery and Gibbs have formed a lethal tandem since being paired together in 2023.
Montgomery’s extension secured $2MM guaranteed as part of his $5.49MM base salary next season; he is signed through 2027 as part of the deal. The Lions have veteran Craig Reynolds and fourth-round rookie Sione Vaki in place as backups behind Gibbs.
11:30am: The notable losses suffered on defense are not the only blows the Lions were dealt yesterday. Running back David Montgomery is dealing with an MCL injury and is out indefinitely, ESPN’s Adam Schefter reports. 
Schefter adds Montgomery is set to undergo further testing on the injury; he will also seek out a second opinion on the matter. If he is to miss significant time (which Schefter notes is a distinct possibility), Detroit’s rushing attack will be greatly affected. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports the injury is in fact an MCL tear.
As a result, it remains to be seen if Montgomery will be available again in 2024. Losing him for the rest of the year would deal a major blow to Detroit’s rushing attack given the effective tandem he has formed with Jahmyr Gibbs over the past two years. The Lions rank sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game in no small part due to Montgomery’s success.
The former Bear eclipsed 1,000 yards for the second time in his career in 2023, averaging a career-high 4.6 yards per attempt along the way. Montgomery’s efficiency has seen a slight decline this year, and an increased workload for Gibbs has lowered his per-game rushing output. Still, the Montgomery-Gibbs pairing has remained a focal point of the Lions’ elite offense, and losing one of the league’s top short yardage and goal line backs could be crippling down the stretch. Detroit remains in contention for the NFC’s No. 1 seed, but overcoming a long list of injuries will be needed to secure the first-round bye.
Montgomery landed a two-year extension in October in a move which ensured he would remain in the Motor City through Gibbs’ rookie contract. Expectations remained high in the wake of that raise, and that will still be the case whenever the 27-year-old is next on the field. If testing indicates Montgomery will not be available again in 2024, however, Gibbs will face a notably increased workload while Detroit’s passing game will be leaned on to compensate.
The defensive side of the ball has been hit much harder than the offensive side in the case of the 2024 Lions. Quarterback Jared Goff, along with Gibbs, wideouts Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams and tight end Sam LaPorta – not to mention all five of the team’s O-line starters – are healthy at this point. Montgomery’s absence would nevertheless be acutely felt if he is in fact unable to return.
Lions keep winning and starters keep getting hurt
And the owners want 18 games.
The players can agree to an 18 game season but they will need 2 bye weeks or even 3 bye weeks. They should never have a team play Thursday night games unless they are coming off a bye week. Elimination of short weeks are crucial.
They’ll never give up Thursday night games. $$
No words…
Seems like injuries are going to be the Lions biggest opponents this year.
My preseason Super Bowl matchup bet was Detroit/Buffalo..: I felt great about that until this past weekend when I watched all of those guys carted off. That team has done an amazing job under the circumstances, but you can only suffer so many of these catastrophic losses before the whole thing comes tumbling down. Lions are in big trouble. That offense is spectacular, but it’s just becoming too much for them. It’s a real shame.
My preseason Super Bowl matchup bet was Panthers/Raiders… I felt great about that until someone woke me from the bad dream I was having 🙂
Reading this nonsense cost me 8 seconds of life I’ll never get back. Thanks.
Judging by your username you’ve lost a lot more than 8 seconds.
Injuries are part of the game. The lions defense has been and is atrocious. Their coach gets props for his gambling nature, his onside kick in the third was high school stuff. Sorry to say the lions have been faltering for weeks, the Eagles are the Beast of the NFC.
I stated back in the spring that Howie Roseman had a terrific off season so I’m not surprised the Eagles are flying high. My main concern with them is kicker Jake Elliot who is only hitting on 77% of FGs. How far can a team go in the playoffs without clutch kicking?
Elliott is playoff proven and I will take that to the bank.
They couldn’t stop the bills. They were damned if they did, damned if they didn’t. They stayed in that game because they have some heart. That’s a great team who drew the bad luck of losing a ton of massively important players and it’s going to spoil their season. The coach is not a technical genius, but that team plays their butts off for him.
Yes injuries are part of the game, but currently the Lions have 16 Defensive players out. 7 starters out, that’s unheard of. Of course the defense is not going to be good. LB Coach admitted he didn’t even know the first names of some of the guys
Unfortunately for the Lions, they play in the NFC North and don’t get to go up the Giants and Cowboys twice. The nice thing is the Lions win the NFC if they win their next 3, regardless of what the Eagles do. At least the Lions didn’t lose to Atlanta.
Given more that more than 50% of their defense is IR you are probably correct.
We just have the worst luck with injuries this season. They’re dropping like flies.
This was like the Packers in 2010. Sometimes it is just brutal. Sorry man.
Is no one at ESPN going to float the rumor that the Lions might be adding Barry Sanders to the practice squad?
Injuries are part of the game, but there’s no way that we can do the usual “injuries and refs don’t mean anything” routine for a team that’s lost 7 starting defenders.
Montgomery being out puts a lot on Gibbs-hopefully he stays healthy with what will be an increased workload. Perhaps Detroit should just think of this as a head start for the most crucial part of their season, which starts now. If they can get through this part with wins, it can only help their resiliency entering the playoffs.