The Detroit Lions are about to deal with quite the conundrum at cornerback headed into Week 5 against the Cincinnati Bengals. They will officially be without backup cornerback Khalil Dorsey for the road game, leaving them looking really thin at defensive back in what should be an easy one to win for the Lions.
Dorsey, who has been dealing with a concussion and wrist injury this week, was seen as a potentially solid backup to D.J. Reed in this game, as Reed landed on the IR earlier this week after Week 4 against the Cleveland Browns. But, the Lions will now only have Rock Ya-Sin, Tre Flowers, and Terrion Arnold at cornerback.
Dorsey, a fifth year defender, has been barely utilized by the Lions this year thanks to the great play of Reed. With Reed now out, he was expected to step up and into a starting role this week. Of course, not everything falls into place perfectly.
This is just another example of Detroit struggling to stay healthy, but there has be some relief on the teams' part that these injury woes are hitting them this early in the year as opposed to at a key portion of the season, like around the time of the postseason kicking off.
Lions inactives list vs. Bengals reveals major depletion at cornerback
In addition to Dorsey, the team is also going to be without tackle Taylor Decker for the first time all season. He's been nursing a shoulder injury since Week 1, and this was obviously a game that Decker desperately needed off given that he's been playing through a ton of pain to begin this year. A full inactives list for the Lions, courtesy the team, is as follows:
Player Injury
Taylor Decker Shoulder
Khalil Dorsey Concussion/wrist
Sione Vaki Groin
Kingsley Eguakun n/a
Mekhi Wingo n/a
Chris Smith n/a
As for Cincinnati, their inactives list is notably topped by rookie Shemar Stewart, a key defender the team will now be without against the high octane offense of the Lions. In addition to Stewart, the Bengals have ruled out CB Marco Wilson, WR Jermaine Burton, TE Cam Grandy, and DT Jordan Jefferson.
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Detroit is looking to improve to 4-1 in the NFC North, and gain even more ground on the Green Bay Packers as they're in a bye week. If they want to head into Kansas City next week with momentum, they have to dominate this contest despite these injuries. But, no Dorsey and especially no Reed make things a bit complicated for Detroit.