A rough week for the Detroit Lions (7-5 straight up, 6-6 against the spread) got rougher Monday when they announced that starting cornerback Terrion Arnold is out for the rest of the season.
Arnold played 17 snaps in his team’s 31-24 home loss to Green Bay on Thanksgiving Day before sustaining a shoulder injury that requires surgery. The 22-year-old started in seven of eight games this year.
Arnold produced 31 tackles, eight passes broken up and one interception. He was the club’s first-round pick with the #24 overall selection in the 2024 NFL Draft.
As a rookie, Arnold played in 16 of 17 regular-season contests, starting 15 of those. He recorded 60 tackles, 10 PBU and one fumble recovery. He finished 15th in voting for NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year honors.
In Detroit’s 45-31 home loss to Washington in the playoffs last year, Arnold had six tackles.
The loss of Arnold is another blow to the NFC’s #1 seed in the postseason from last year.
On the eve of last week’s crucial matchup vs. the Packers, the team got great news when veteran center Frank Ragnow, a four-time Pro-Bowl selection who retired during the offseason, announced that he was coming out of retirement.
However, the Lions announced Saturday that Ragnow failed his physical due to a Grade 3 hamstring strain and won’t be coming back.
“Look, of course we’re disappointed, just because Frank’s such a good dude and a great teammate and he’s a productive player,” Detroit head coach Dan Campbell said. “But at the same time, he’s injured, too. So, you quickly move off of that and know what it is, and you know he’s not playing, and it’s all good, man. We adjust, we move on, and we’re onto Dallas now.”
Arnold wasn’t the only key player injured vs. Green Bay. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown left the game with an ankle injury in the first quarter and didn’t return. He didn’t practice Monday and is generously listed as ‘questionable’ vs. the Cowboys.
St. Brown has 75 receptions for 884 yards and nine touchdowns in 12 games this season.
Detroit is without its two best tight ends, as Sam LaPorta is probably out for the season and Brock Wright (neck/trachea) missed the loss vs. Green Bay after landing on his head the previous week in a comeback win over the Giants.
The good news is that TE Shane Zylstra returned to practice Monday. He’s been out with an ankle injury since Week 2.
Although safety Kerby Joseph is dealing with a lingering knee injury that, according to a recent report from the Detroit Free Press, is cartilage-related and could be a problem for years to come, he did return to practice Monday on a limited basis. The 25-year-old Joseph has played in 55 career regular-season games in four seasons and has 196 tackles and 20 interceptions.
Starting center Graham Glasgow missed the loss to the Packers due to a knee issue, but he did practice Monday on a limited basis.
As of Tuesday morning, most books had Detroit installed as a three-point home favorite for Thursday night’s showdown vs. Dallas. The total was 53.5 or 54 points, while the Cowboys were in the +140 to +145 range on the money line.
Chicago has a 9-3 record and one-half game lead over Green Bay in the NFC North standings. The Lions are two games back of the Bears, who got throttled 52-21 at Detroit in Week 2.
FanDuel has the Packers as -135 favorites to win the division. The Bears have +145 odds, while the Lions are 10/1 longshots.
Detroit has 22/1 odds to win Super Bowl LX. Those are the 11th-shortest odds on the board.