Lions Are Banged Up Heading Into Season Opener

The Detroit Lions may be forced to play their season-opening game against the Chicago Bears without their top offensive weapon.

Wide receiver Kenny Golladay was listed as doubtful for the season opener on Friday's injury report.

Lions head coach Matt Patricia was asked about the increased number of hamstring injuries members of the roster have suffered throughout training camp.

"We actually did a great study of this in what a normal season kind of looks like. We see in the spring time as we get into OTAs and phase two, that’s where we really see the joint stiffness and soreness. So, a lot of the knees, the ankles, the hips, a lot of those type of injuries come up for us in the spring," Patricia said Friday in a video conference.

He explained further, "Then, as we progress toward training camp, that’s when we start to see more of the soft tissue -- where we’re amped up to speed and the length of the plays and how far downfield and things like that and the groin issues that maybe come with some of the defensive players with change of direction. I would say the one thing that we’re trying to do -- and really why you’ll see it on the injury report a lot -- is we’re trying to prevent them from being long-term type of soft-tissue injuries. So, even if we get guys that are tight, that may be on the milder side, we’re trying to prevent the four-week type of injury there.”

Other topics discussed on this week's podcast:

Should Tracy Walker be the starting safety?
Keys to defeating the Bears in Week 1
Key matchups to watch
Predictions

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