Luckless Lions lose DeVries for season
At what point do you start feeling sorry for the Detroit Lions?
Of course Detroit is coming off the NFL’s first-ever 0-16 season, so Detroit needs all the help it can get.
But the Lions, who are +10000 to win Super Bowl XLIV on WagerWeb.com, already have suffered a fairly significant injury in camp, with veteran left defensive end Jared DeVries ruled out for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon.
DeVries went down face-first into the turf at the end of a play during a goal-line drill. He tried to get up, but he quickly laid back down and rolled over as the team physician and training staff rushed to attend to him.
“I saw it on the field – it was a non-contact injury,” coach Jim Schwartz said. “Most Achilles (injuries) I’ve been around, they are non-contact. You just stretch it a funny way, and I think all of them are similar in that the guy says it feels like somebody kicked him from behind.”
DeVries started 29 games the past three seasons for the Lions and has played in 120 games for them since they drafted him out of Iowa in 1999. He had 29 tackles and two sacks last year.
“It’s one thing in this league to know that you’re injured, it’s another thing to know that your season is gonna be over,” Schwartz said. “And that’s a tough thing, when you’re as tough a player as Jared. when you’ve been through some of the things he has, that’s a tough realization.”
The Lions acted quickly to replace DeVries, signing veteran defensive lineman Shaun Smith to a $1 million, one-year deal. Smith started 19 games in two seasons with the Cleveland Browns. Smith carries some baggage with him, however. He clashed with the Browns coaching staff this summer over his attitude and work ethic. He also reportedly punched quarterback Brady Quinn during a weight-room altercation last December.
Jason Hunter, a fourth-year pro the Lions claimed off waivers from Green Bay in May, was elevated to left end in DeVries’ spot with the first team in practice Tuesday. Dewayne White, who has played left end in the past, mostly stayed on the right. The Lions still could rekindle talks with free agent Kevin Carter, whom Schwartz coached as Tennessee’s defensive coordinator.
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