Detroit Lions could be without Jonah Jackson, Brock Wright for NFC championship game
The Detroit Lions beat the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday to advance to their first NFC championship game in 32 years, but they could be without two key members of the offense when they play the San Francisco 49ers next week.
Left guard Jonah Jackson left Sunday's game with a knee injury and Brock Wright suffered a forearm injury that had him in a sling after the game.
Lions coach Dan Campbell indicated both players could miss the NFC title game.
"It doesn’t look real good for next week," Campbell said. "But we’ll see."
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Jackson, who missed five games in the regular season with knee and wrist injuries, left early in Sunday's second half after blocking on a David Montgomery run. He turned to the bench and waived for a replacement immediately after the play, then limped off the field and went straight to the locker room.
Wright had a key 29-yard catch on a third-and-1 misdirection play in the third quarter to set up Craig Reynolds' 1-yard touchdown run, but did not play in the fourth quarter. He missed the final three games of the regular season with an adductor injury.
The Lions have just one other tight end currently on their 53-man roster, rookie Sam LaPorta, who caught nine passes for 65 yards Sunday in his second game back from a knee injury. Fullback Jason Cabinda and backup Anthony Firkser have played multiple games this season off the practice squad.
Kayode Awosika replaced Jackson and left guard and likely would start if Jackson can't play next week.
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The Lions have juggled personnel on their offensive line because of injury all season, but had started the same five up front the past six games. They went 7-1 in the regular season with their regular starting line — Taylor Decker at left tackle, Jackson at left guard, Frank Ragnow at center, Graham Glasgow at right guard and Penei Sewell at right tackle — and 5-4 when they were forced to start at least one backup.
"I thought Yode stepped up," Lions coach Dan Campbell said of Awosika's play Sunday. "That was good to see. And we went right in there and I think we had a five-step drop first play out of the gate and he just went in there and did really good. So Yode’s continued to get better, really over the last two years. He’s just kind of grown and grown and last time we played Tampa he was in there for us, but I thought he did some really good things."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions may not have Jonah Jackson, Brock Wright in NFC title game