NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that Detroit Lions corner Jeff Okudah hamstring may keep him out of Week 1 and he is “not expected” to play.
After opening the week off the injury report, Okudah was added to it on Thursday and is currently listed with a questionable designation on this week’s injury report,
Mid-week injuries are almost always bad, and with the cautious approach the Lions have taken to soft tissue injuries this camp, this looks like a precautionary step to make sure his hamstring injury doesn’t linger into a multi-week injury.
“I would say the one thing that we’re trying to do, and really why you’ll see it on the injury report a lot, is we’re trying to prevent them from being long-term type of soft-tissue injuries,” coach Matt Patricia said at his Friday press conference. “So even if we get guys that are tight, that may be on the milder side, maybe a seven-, 10-, 14-day type stuff, we’re trying to prevent the four-week type of injury there.”
With Okudah likely out, this puts second-year corner Amani Oruwariye front and center in the starting lineup, and based on the improvements he showed in training camp, he may have been headed there anyway.
