Campbell on LaPorta: 'Not as Bad as It Looked, But It's Not Good News'
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell provided injury updates on tight end Sam LaPorta and wide receiver Kalif Raymond Sunday, following the team’s 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings.
According to a report from NFL media Sunday, LaPorta was diagnosed with a hyperextended knee and a bone bruise after his MRI. He is expected to miss some time, ahead of the beginning of the NFL postseason next week.
LaPorta left Sunday’s regular season finale against the Minnesota Vikings with a left knee injury in the second quarter.
"The best way I can put it is, it's not as bad as it looked, but it's not good news," Campbell said Sunday. "So, it's kind of in this, we'll know more tomorrow. But, I know it looked awful, it's not as bad as that. But, it doesn't mean that it looks good in the immediate here. Leaf's (Kalif Raymond's) in kind of that same world a little bit."
Raymond, meanwhile, left the game in the fourth quarter with a knee injury, and was ruled out. He finished Sunday's game with two catches for 50 yards, and added 89 yards total on four punt returns.
Campbell added that he believes both Amon-Ra St. Brown and Brian Branch will be good ahead of the team’s playoff opener next week. He explained his decision to play the starters in Sunday's game.
"No, you don't want guys to get hurt. I said a prayer last night, I do it every time before these games for our guys," Campbell explained. "You don't want anybody getting hurt, especially in a game like this. There again, we have two tight ends, and we used Skip (Dan Skipper). And so, we tried to limit what we could, and that happened to be a play it happened. And then Leaf, it's kind of the same thing. We tried to take care of Saint there towards the end. Well, you get Leaf in the game, and then Leaf gets hurt. It's a tough deal, it's tough."
LaPorta had a historic rookie season, and ranks among the best ever in several categories for rookie tight ends.
He set the record for receptions by a rookie tight end with his first catch Sunday.
On that reception -- a touchdown -- he also became the third rookie tight end ever to record 10 touchdowns. He joined Mike Ditka (1961) and Rob Gronkowski (2010) as the only other players at the position to accomplish that feat.
