Allen Park — It was a preventable injury. On Wednesday, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell lamented the season-ending loss of Shane Zylstra, who the coach called one the unheralded contributors from last season’s second-half turnaround.
Zylstra suffered the injury in the latter stages of Monday’s practice. After hauling in a short grab in the red zone, he took a low hit from cornerback Khalil Dorsey while attempting to turn upfield and pick up additional yardage.
“First of all, feel awful for Zylstra,” Campbell said. “My gosh. He had the injury two years ago that man. That was a tough one. That was a tough injury he fought his way back from. And then you saw what he was able to do for us. He was a pivotal part of our success last year, once we started to turning the corner, and he just does everything right, man. He works, he’s a grinder, and then this one happens.
“Honestly, it shouldn’t happen,” Campbell continued. “No, we’re not OK with that, and it’s been addressed. These things happen — the physicality of the game in pads — but that was preventable. It’s not what we do. And believe me, Khalil feels awful, too. We get that, but we got to take care of each other. You still have to be physical, we got to work each other, we got to compete, but we still got to take care of each other. We talked about it and we move on.”
As noted by Campbell, Zylstra suffered a fractured kneecap that ended his 2021 season.
To backfill the roster spot after the most recent injury, as well as add competition at the position, the Lions added a pair of tight ends to the roster, Darrell Daniels and Daniel Helm.
Daniels entered the league in 2017 and has spent time on four rosters, including Houston and Indianapolis last year. Primarily a run blocker, the 6-foot-3, 256-pounder has caught just 13 passes in 61 NFL games (18 starts).
Helm is similarly a journeyman, with six NFL stops since going undrafted out of Duke in 2019. He was most recently a member of the Memphis Showboats of the USFL.
To clear room for those additions, the Lions waived tight end Derrick Deese Jr.
Injury update
The Lions got some good news on the injury front with offensive tackle Penei Sewell cleared to return from concussion protocol and rookie tight end Sam LaPorta returning to practice after leaving Monday’s session with a minor ankle injury.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers