Lions avoid catastrophe with C.J. Gardner-Johnson injury

It turns out the Lions don't need to hit the panic button.

On Monday, prized free-agent acquisition C.J. Gardner-Johnson was carted off the practice field after suffering a non-contact knee injury. That's usually a sign of a serious, potentially season-ending injury. Fortunately, head coach Dan Campbell said imaging showed no major structural damage.

"It appears to be that he's going to be OK... It doesn't appear to be anything serious. We'll see. The images look pretty good. He may be out a day or two, but yeah, seems to be OK," said Campbell.

Detroit received plenty of buzz this offseason and was even the most popular bet to win the NFC at sportsbooks this offseason.

The Lions return many of the pieces of their fifth-ranked scoring offense but revamped a defensive secondary that needed it.

Detroit allowed 392.4 yards per game last season, the worst in NFL. The secondary allowed 4,179 passing yards, the third-most last season. Gardner-Johnson joins Cameron Sutton and Emmanuel Moseley as 2023 free-agent acquisitions. Last season, Gardner-Johnson had six interceptions, tied for the league lead.

Per Pro Football Focus, quarterbacks completed only 50.7 percent of their passes when targeting Sutton last season and had a below-average passer rating of 69.6. Moseley allowed a reception on 65 percent of his targets but didn't give up a touchdown. Quarterbacks actually had a worse passer rating against him (63.5) than they did against Sutton, 

Having all three on the field will be a major boost for the Lions as they seek their first division title since 1993. 

For a moment on Monday, it appeared like the Lions experienced a significant loss. Thankfully, indications are that Gardner-Johnson is fine, keeping Detroit on the right track.