Detroit Lions Preseason: Latest Buzz on Player Injuries

During the NFL preseason, injuries are a dime a dozen. Teams routinely have players miss time with general soreness and other mild afflictions. It's nothing to lose sleep over.

After all, no player is going to miss regular season games due to general soreness.

However, there is an injury that acts like a gut punch to teams and their fans: The dreaded season-ending variety.

When that type of injury befalls a super star player, his team's hopes and aspirations for the season go down the drain quicker than Extra Strength Drano. The impact is felt league-wide as well.

Needless to say, the Lions are tiptoeing through the injury minefield as we speak. They've managed to keep their most important players away from serious injury. Many have missed time, but all of them are projected to be ready by the regular season.

Well, almost all of them.

Here's the Lions' latest injury buzz.

Drew Coleman

Drew Coleman, whom the Lions signed on July 25, suffered a concussion earlier this week, and the timetable for his return is not known.

Per NFL policy, the Lions will follow protocol, and he will return when he passes the necessary tests.

Coleman wasn't predicted to be a starter for the Lions. He was brought in to add depth to an already shaky secondary and help with special teams.

His absence won't signal any alarms, but everyone knows why depth is important to the Lions secondary. If he doesn't return, look for the Lions to add another cornerback via free agency.

They don't want to repeat last season's mistakes.

Jeff Backus

Jeff Backus, the Lions' starting left tackle, suffered a thumb injury at the start of camp, but only missed minimal time. He's wearing a cast now, and it hasn't really impacted his performance on the field.

He played in their first preseason game and fared well. His missed block contributed to a Matthew Stafford interception, but that can't be blamed on the injury.

Backus did miss Wednesday's practice due to a sore back, but there's no indication it's serious. He was back at practice the next day.

Like many of Detroit's veterans who miss time, this injury can be chalked up to general camp soreness, and they might give the veteran the occasional day off.

Luckily, the Lions actually have depth at the position this year. Jason Fox is finally healthy and has been very solid so far.

The Lions' first-round pick, Riley Reiff, is also proving to be a capable backup as well.

Nick Fairley

It was reported by MLive.com's Justin Rogers that Nick Fairly came up lame during a team drill on Tuesday.

He toughed out the rest of practice, but had a noticeable limp. This raised more than a few eyebrows as observers feared the worst: that Fairley had re-injured his foot.

Luckily for the Lions, he did not. In fact, coach Jim Schwartz made that clear:

"No, I know he was limping around today, but it wasn't anything to do with his foot."

This is another injury that doesn't appear to be serious. There was no report of Fairley missing any time because of it.

Given his injury history, a watchful eye will be on him the rest of the way, though. 

Ryan Broyles

Ryan Broyles is a world-class athlete and a fierce competitor. It goes without saying that he hasn't spent much time on the sidelines during his football career. Yet that is exactly where he finds himself this summer.

Only nine months removed from major knee surgery, Broyles has made a miraculous recovery but continues to have knee soreness. It's nothing out of the ordinary, though.

According to him, he could play now, but the Lions prefer to take it slow. There's no sense in rushing.

That's why his status with the team has been—and will continue to be—unpredictable. He participated in practice Sunday, sat out Monday, practiced Tuesday, and according to the Detroit News, he was out again Wednesday.

This will be the routine for the foreseeable future.

The Lions are wise to treat the second-round pick with kid gloves. Their play-it-safe approach will pay dividends during the regular season when depth is paramount.

Calvin Johnson

When the news broke that Calvin Johnson missed Monday's practice due to an injury, millions of Lions fans feared the worse.

At the same time, millions of Lions haters rejoiced and thanked the "Madden Curse" for rearing it's ugly head again.

Actually, Johnson has not been cursed at all.

Originally reported to be a finger injury, Jim Schwartz cleared up the reason for Johnson's day off, via Freep.com:

"

He wasn’t shut down because of his finger. It was just general camp kind of legs and soreness. He needed a day here, too. Calvin doesn’t have a regulator, either.

"

Schwartz's comments were proven true when Johnson returned to practice on Tuesday and showed no "finger issues" while catching passes from Matthew Stafford.

That is good news. Now Lions fans can come in off the ledge and stop burning their copies of Madden NFL 13.

Mikel Leshoure

The Lions' long-lost running back, Mikel Leshoure, finally made an appearance this week after missing most of training camp with a hamstring injury.

While this is good news, it's nothing to get too excited about, as Mike O'Hara reported on detroitlions.com. Leshoure is not yet a full participant in team drills.

The next few weeks will determine how much the second-year rusher can help the Lions iffy running back situation.

With Jahvid Best looking less and less likely to have an impact this year, Leshoure's presence in the Lions backfield is a must. That's why the Lions will play it safe with him throughout camp.

Hamstring injuries are particularly touchy. If he pushes it too hard, he'll quickly end up back on the sidelines.

He'll be inactive for Friday's preseason game against Baltimore, but next week will be a good indication of where he stands.

Kyle Vanden Bosch

Kyle Vanden Bosch doesn't have an "off switch." He's all-out, all the time. So Jim Schwartz knows that he needs to step in and give the 10-year veteran a breather every now and then.

It's the best way to keep him fresh for the regular season.

It appears that KVB will get more time off than Schwartz anticipated, though. He is out indefinitely with a knee injury suffered last week.

According to CBSsports.com, Schwartz is classifying him as "week-to-week."

His absence is significant, although it doesn't appear that the injury will impact the regular season.

It does mean that Lions fans will get to see even more of Willie Young, though.

That's not a bad thing. Young has been a revelation this year as he continues to show improvement in his third year with the team.

Depending upon his impact during the regular season, the Lions' decision on Cliff Avril's future could be a lot easier.

Jahvid Best

There is no update on Jahvid Best's progress. He continues to work as hard as he can so that he can return from the head injury that's sidelined him since last October.

Unfortunately he's no closer to returning than he was at the beginning of training camp. In fact, it appears he's farther away.

According to ESPN, Best will "likely" remain on the PUP list and miss the first six weeks of the regular season.

While this will be a huge blow to the Lions offense, it shouldn't take anyone by surprise. There have been warning flares going up for weeks that something was not right with Best.

Anyone who is waiting for him to return needs to whiff the smelling salts and wake up.

The ESPN article goes on to say that the Lions can extend his rest period even longer into the season.

"

The way NFL rules work, the Lions could extend Best's recovery time through Week 12 of the season without having him count against their roster. To do that, however, he would have to begin practicing by Week 9. (He wouldn't be eligible to practice before Week 7.)

"

Extending his rest period would be wise given the amount of time he's already missed. After all, his health is the most important thing.

Then again, does extending his time matter? He's out until he's cleared by doctors. There's no guarantee he'll be ready in Week 12 either.

As I said in a previous article, the Lions should move on from Best and so should fans.

Apparently, they have. According to MLive.com, fans are overwhelmingly in support of the Lions bringing in free-agent running back Jeff Demps to replace Best.