Detroit, MI
How Detroit Lions plan to make up for loss of Alim McNeill, Carlton Davis, David Montgomery
The physical toll is obvious.
The Detroit Lions have 18 players on injured reserve, with four more headed there in the coming days.
The psychological toll is still coming into focus, though Lions coach Dan Campbell said his locker room won’t flinch at the latest rash of injuries that knocked out defensive starters Alim McNeill and Carlton Davis, running back David Montgomery and special teams standout Khalil Dorsey this week.
“We acknowledge the fact that, man, we’ve lost players, we’ve lost really good players,” Campbell said Monday. “But nobody cares. I mean, nobody cares and nobody’s going to give us a pass or put an asterisk next to your record.
“So what it means is, some guys are going to have an unbelievable opportunity. Because of what has happened, that means, now, man, you’re a guy who’s on the vet squad or you’re a young player or you’re somebody that’s been dying to get an opportunity, you’re about to get it. And so, that’s a pretty cool thing, that’s a pretty inspiring thing, what are you going to do with it?”
Campbell said it’s up to him and his staff to put the Lions’ next wave of replacement starters in position to succeed and design gameplans that play to the team’s strengths.
Already, the Lions have been playing without front-seven starters Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Alex Anzalone and Derrick Barnes because of injuries, and before Sunday’s loss to the Buffalo Bills they were riding an 11-game win streak.
Montgomery injured the MCL in his right knee Sunday and is expected to miss the rest of the season. The Lions will fill his void by leaning more heavily on Jahmyr Gibbs at running back, though Campbell said they have to be wary about giving Gibbs too many reps in Montgomery’s absence.
Gibbs leads the Lions with a career-high 1,047 yards rushing on 186 carries. Montgomery has 775 yards on 185 carries. No. 3 running back Craig Reynolds has 12 offensive touches this season.
“We’ve still got to be able to be smart with (Gibbs), but we need him,” Campbell said. “We need him and that’s the trick. So those other guys, Craig’s going to need to help us, which, he’ll be ready. And (Sione) Vaki, potentially, as well.”
At defensive tackle, the Lions will use a committee approach to replace McNeill, who tore the ACL in his right knee Sunday and has been the Lions’ best defensive lineman since Hutchinson broke his leg in mid-October.
Levi Onwuzurike, who has played as both a big defensive end and inside at tackle this season, could play more as interior rusher the rest of the year. DJ Reader is healthy at nose tackle after missing one game with a shoulder injury. Pat O’Connor has played a prominent backup role in recent weeks. And Myles Adams and Brodric Martin could see rotational snaps after being inactive Sunday.
Campbell said the Lions are sorting through myriad options on what to do at cornerback with Davis out indefinitely with a broken jaw.
The rest of the starting secondary – safeties Brian Branch and Kerby Joseph, cornerback Terrion Arnold and slot corner Amik Robertson – is healthy with three games to play and some of those players could see a shift in role. Robertson played some outside cornerback for the Las Vegas Raiders last season, though the Lions have preferred to keep him inside. Branch could move to slot in certain packages if the Lions want to get a third safety – Ifeatu Melifonwu, when he comes off injured reserve (as soon as this week), or Brandon Joseph on the field.
And Kindle Vildor and Emmanuel Moseley have experience at outside cornerback, and in Moseley’s case, also in the slot. Vildor finished Sunday’s game at outside cornerback.
“What do we do with Branch? Do we keep him where he’s at? Do we move him?” Campbell said. “We’ve got Amik, does Amik stay inside? Does he go outside? Iffy, start his clock this week? Maybe, potentially. We’ve just got to see, and because of that we’re going to need to practice a little bit to see where some of these guys that haven’t practiced in a while are at.
“So we’ll see. We’ve got options, and we’ll find the best combination of guys and go from there.”
Robertson said Sunday he’s willing to play whatever role the Lions deem necessary down the stretch.
“I’m a football player,” he said. “Wherever they put me at, I’ll play at a high level, play … Lions football, be myself within the scheme. If that’s what we’re going to do than that’s what I’ll do but as of now I don’t know what’s going to happen.”
Campbell doesn’t either, though he’ll spend the next few days figuring it out.
“I’ve said it before, we play with three units here and we’ll do what we have to do to win a game, and that’s all that matters,” he said. “That’s all that matters, from here on out, is that you just need to have one more point than the opponent, period.”
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
Next up: Bears
Matchup: Lions (12-2) at Chicago (4-9 entering Monday).
Kickoff: 1 p.m. Sunday; Soldier Field; Chicago.
TV/radio: Fox; WXYT-FM (97.1).
Spread: Lions by 6½.