It’s a question that seems to certainly have an easy answer. The Detroit Lions suffered through one of the worst injury plagued seasons in 2024 and by all rights could have and should have stumbled their way to the end of the year missing the playoffs, but they didn’t.

Despite having 17 players on Injured Reserve going into their divisional round playoff game against the Commanders, they still managed a league best (tied) and franchise best 15 win season. And that doesn’t include the players that missed time and returned throughout the season like Alex Anzalone.

Here’s a link to see every player that was on IR at some point in the season

https://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/det/2024_injuries.htm

By my count, that’s 24 players. The Lions had enough players on IR to field a full defensive starting lineup, plus extra depth, according to USA Today.

While Dan Campbell and the players will never admit or use it as an excuse, that amount of injuries was never going to be overcome. Especially in the playoffs against seemingly more healthy teams. When you’re lining up players who are journeymen or practice squad lifers, it’s a testament to the culture the Lions have.

Now, with 2025 only in week 3 of preseason, the Lions have already waived a player with an injury settlement (Kye Robichaux) meaning they paid him for the games he would have missed and placed Ennis Rakestraw, Colby Sorsdal, Kenny Yeboah, Dan Jackson, Levi Onwuzurike and Justin Herron on IR.

Now, the good thing here is players can be placed on injured reserve (IR) with the possibility of returning during the regular season, thanks to a rule change that allows teams to designate up to two players for return from IR at the final roster cutdown. Previously, players placed on IR before the regular season started were essentially out for the year. Now, these designated players must remain on IR for at least four games before they can begin practicing, and if activated, they have a 21-day window to return to the active roster.

The Lions have had to dip into the UFL several times to fill out the back end of the roster and it’s worked out well when they did the last time with Jake Bates.

With so many injuries over that last year and 2 preseason games, many have been calling for the Lions to fire the training staff and team doctors. It’s ridiculous to even try and comprehend how people don’t understand that football is a CONTACT SPORT. Football is a physical sport and injuries will happen. You can’t avoid it. You can put in preventive measures but at the end of the day, football is still about hitting and tackling.

There is a debate ongoing and it likely will never end as long as you throw the word “safety” around. What is the proper way to prepare for a football season. You see it in the NFL, college and high school levels (especially in California) with the changes over the years in practice times, practice days, how many minutes of contact per week. The idea of less time hitting, less time being physical and less time exposing the players to potential plays or drills that could lead to injury.

The problem is, you need that time to condition the body for what it will experience during a season. A season in which a player will go though several “car crashes” a game.

Studies have shown that the G-forces experienced are comparable to those in car accidents and researchers equate the total force absorbed by an offensive lineman in a single game being equivalent to 62 car crashes.

One study likened a college football season to repeatedly driving a car at 25 mph into a brick wall 1,000 times.

So, the question here becomes, how does one “prepare” for 62 car crashes or slamming into a wall 1000 times? Wouldn’t tackling, hitting and physical practices increase the wear and tear in your body? Wouldn’t it increase the chances of getting hurt? In a way yes, but it’s a lot worse if you try to jump straight into a game without any prep time. Just like stretching before you go running, you need to condition your body.

You need to build up a resistance and almost an entire callus on your body to withstand the rigors that come with playing football, especially at the highest level. You have some of the biggest (300 lbs at times), strongest, best, most in shape athletes in the world slamming into each other.

You also have to learn and teach the techniques that will make this game easier to play and safer by learning proper fundamentals in tackling and blocking. Yes, you can walk through these plays and drills but you won’t get the same understanding without going full speed, full pads and being physical. The Steelers and Ravens have very physical practices as well as Pete Carrol and his time with the Seahawks. They went to the ground as much as possible under the NFL rules. Kansas City continues to play their best players in preseason. Why? To prepare for the season.

It is football. Calling for trainers to be fired, saying the Lions don’t take car eof their players or they run to physical of a practice is nonsense. Every team has them. Here is a list of every teams injuries as of August 10th.

https://www.espn.com/nfl/injuries

You can’t prevent every injury. You can’t predict or prevent a player rolling over another ankle or swinging a leg and colliding with another leg. If you look at that list, you’d have to fire all 32 training staffs.

Football is a physically demanding sport and things happen. The Lions don’t have a problem with their conditioning or training, they just hit a string of unfortunate events and circumstances that they must fight through. You’ve seen it in the past, Dan Campbell and the Lions current regime care and take of the players, like going Za’Darius Smith the week off last week. Or taking their time when getting a player off the injury report or using almost all of the 21-day window.

The Lions, just like 31 other teams are watching players try to prepare themselves and fight for jobs. That means that the intensity during practice and games is going to intensify. But no, the Detroit Lions do not have an injury problem.