Multiple Injuries Strike Lions Ahead of NFL Season

Injuries have hit the Detroit Lions as the team prepares to kick off the preseason with a Thursday night game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

Starting center Cade Mays and running back Isiah Pacheco, both offseason additions, will both miss time with ailments as the team tries to take back the NFC North from the rival Chicago Bears.

Lions head coach Dan Campbell confirmed that Mays will miss a “significant amount of time.” The reason, according to NFL insiders, is a fractured small bone in the center’s wrist.

Campbell does not know when Mays will return, but he joked that it will be before the playoffs begin.

Pacheco will return much sooner. Campbell notes that the former Chiefs running back is dealing with an MCL sprain. He will miss the preseason, but the team hopes to have him back for a Week 1 game against the Saints.

The goal is to have Pacheco back so that he can work behind starter Jahmyr Gibbs, who just signed a record-setting contract extension.

Mays came to Detroit on a three-year, $25 million contract. He had been expected to help shore up the offensive line and protect quarterback Jared Goff. Now, the team will have to shuffle the line likely until the middle of the season.

“Look, we’re going to find the best five,” Campbell said about his offensive line. “We will (identify) the best five and we’re trying to find that before camp starts, but look, if this goes into the season it does.

“But at some point, we will find the best five and where they belong, and they’ll be ready.”

The Lions are fresh off a 9-8 season that featured some big moments and even more disappointment. This team missed the playoffs and finished last in the NFC North. This snapped a streak of two consecutive division titles.

Campbell’s team plans to take back the North from the Bears, and the Polymarket traders believe that it will do so. These traders have the Lions listed as the favorite to win the NFC North at 36%.

The Bears, which won the division last season, fell to third in the rankings at 22%. The Packers are second at 28% while the Vikings are last at 15%.

In terms of the Big Game, the traders have less faith in the Lions. They give the team a mere 4% chance to reach the championship game for the first time and capture the Lombardi Trophy.

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