It was more than a little troubling to see Lions second-round pick Levi Onwuzurike standing on the side of training camp practices with trainers instead of participating in drills. Big No. 75 was sidelined for most of the first three weeks of camp with a back injury, one that dates back to his college days at Washington.
Nobody ever “used to have” a back injury, and for a player so young to be idled with one was concerning. But Onwuzurike is back in the lineup and looked fantastic in Tuesday night’s practice. He’s scheduled to play as normal on Saturday in the second preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, too.
Onwuzurike spoke to the media after Tuesday’s session and downplayed any concerns over the back injury.
“I’m back to normal. I mean, I was always good, it was just more the Lions trying to take care of me. Make sure I got better right away,” Onwuzurike said.
The new Lions regime has indeed been quite proactive in resting players with minor or lingering injuries. It’s true with RB D’Andre Swift, WR Breshad Perriman and CB Corn Elder, among others.
The Lions referred Onwuzurike to a couple of different specialists, just to be safe. The defensive end made it clear that was not what he wanted, but he appreciated the team looking out for his best interest. He understands that dealing with “nagging pain” is part of life in the NFL and he’s quite confident he’s going through nothing more than that.
