Jeff Okudah, Detroit Lions. (Photo by Nic Antaya/Getty Images)
Jeff Okudah’s season is over after the Detroit Lions cornerback rupturing his Achilles tendon.
The Detroit Lions received awful news on the Jeff Okudah injury front, as the former No. 3 overall pick out of Ohio State will be out for the rest of the season.
Okudah tore his Achilles in the Lions’ narrow home defeat to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 1. While he was limited to only nine games during his rookie season last year, Okudah was coming off a strong camp for Detroit and was expected to be a huge part of their defense. Now, he will have only played in 10 NFL games that count in his first two years in the league. What a blow.
It is only one week into the season, but Dan Campbell’s team is dealing with adversity first-hand.
Jeff Okudah injury update: Lions cornerback out for season with torn Achilles
Even though football is a game with a 100-percent injury rate, it always stinks when one of a team’s best players goes down in the first game of the season. While there have been advances in modern medicine, a torn Achilles is a guaranteed season over these days. May Okudah bounce back better than ever after suffering this devastating injury. Detroit has to adjust accordingly.
Despite losing at home to the 49ers, the Lions battled admirably in the second half to make it a game. While Detroit is not expected to be a playoff team this year, Campbell’s Lions debut certainly went better than Urban Meyer’s debut in Jacksonville and infinitely better than the start to the Arthur Smith era down in Atlanta. Campbell could be the right head coach for this team.
With Okudah being listed as out for the rest of the season, it is clearly next man up in Detroit now.