ALLEN PARK — At several points in the last few months, Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold has suffered an injury, only to bounce back and be ready to play the following week.
The shoulder injury that knocked him out of Sunday’s win against the Cincinnati Bengals is not such a case.
Lions coach Dan Campbell on Monday said Arnold’s shoulder injury will force him out of action for “a long time.” Campbell is uncertain whether the injury is season-ending, but he didn’t seem too optimistic about his chances of returning this season.
“Unfortunately, he’s going to be out for a while, he’s going to be out for a long time,” Campbell said. “I don’t know (if it’s season-ending), but it’ll be a while. It’s gonna be a while.”
Arnold exited last week’s game against the Cleveland Browns with a shoulder injury but was off the injury report by week’s end. He then left Sunday’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals when with 35 seconds left in the third quarter after awkwardly hitting the turf while trying to make a tackle on Bengals receiver Andrei Iosivas.
All of this comes after what Campbell believed to be one of Arnold’s best games in a Lions uniform.
Working against one of the best receiver duos in the league in Ja’Marr Chase and Tee Higgins, Arnold was targeted six times in coverage and gave up three catches for 28 yards, while also being called for two penalties, one of which nullified a safety. He also had two pass breakups.
“He was very competitive. I thought he was calm, I thought he was cool. I thought this was one of the better games he’s played in a while. I thought he was really good. We put a lot on him, and I thought he answered the bell,” Campbell said.
It’s horrible news — and timing — for the Lions, who placed their other outside starting cornerback, D.J. Reed, on injured reserve with a hamstring injury last week. The Lions will play two of the league’s best quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes (Kansas City Chiefs) and Baker Mayfield (Tampa Bay Buccaneers), over the next two weeks.
Not only that, but even the depth is dwindling. With cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. on injured reserve with an injury he suffered during the summer, cornerback Khalil Dorsey had a wrist injury pop up on the injury report last week. After Arnold’s injury, the Lions were forced to give nine defensive snaps to Tre Flowers, who signed to the team’s practice squad less than a week before the game and was elevated to the active roster on Saturday.
Asked about Dorsey, Campbell said he’ll also be “out for a while.”
The Lions play man-to-man coverage at an extremely high rate, so losing two coverage corners they can trust is a major blow. Campbell said he’s unsure if Detroit will adjust schematically, saying, “We don’t want to go away from play man-to-man” because “it’s part of our DNA.”
“We’ll see where we’re at. Some of that depends on what happens tonight. \[The Chiefs\] are playing tonight, we’ll see how they come out of that game. We’re going to do what’s best for us,” Campbell said.
“And everything aligns together between the coverage and the rush. … We could alter some things. We’re going to help our personnel out the best that we can. We always do that for every game.”
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the Lions are likely to stick with Amik Robertson and Rock Ya-Sin on the outside while rotating Avonte Maddox and Flowers into the game. Maddox also had nine snaps in Sunday’s win; Ya-Sin had 29.
Ya-Sin was targeted six times, allowing four catches for 39 yards with just 1 yard after the catch. He also broke up two of the four passes thrown to Higgins, where he was the closest defender.
On Ya-Sin, Campbell said, “I thought he did a good job (Sunday), man.”
“He did exactly what we asked him to do. The plan was good. He executed well in that plan. Here’s what you love about Rock: he plays fearless, he’s not afraid, he doesn’t care who he’s going against,” Campbell said. “He’s aggressive, he’ll challenge. He challenges the release point, he challenges at the catch point.
“He’ll run up, he’ll tackle, he’ll hit. That’s all you can ask for. That’s all we’re looking for.”
The Lions experienced a significant bout of poor injury luck last season, which, in theory, should make them more equipped to deal with whatever is set to face them in the coming weeks and months.
“It really is the same ast last year, it’s just now it’s on the \[back\] end. The front end was last year, the D-line, we got hit at linebacker,” Campbell said. “And so now, we’ve been pretty good there and now it’s on the back end. You tweak a couple things, the front’s got to get there a little quicker, and our DBs, man, get up there and challenge, compete. We’ll adjust. We’ll adapt. We move on.”
Added Campbell, “I mentioned this before: This train doesn’t stop for anybody.”