The Detroit Lions have lost their RG to IR heading into the start of the season. The team announced on Monday that they have placed starting right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai on the reserved injured list. Vaitai missed time between the second and third preseason games with a hip and back injury. The team has not disclosed what caused Vaitai to land on the IR.
Lions O-Line Will Be Missing A Starter Again To Begin The Season
Detroit started the 2021 season without starting left tackle Taylor Decker. They were also without their Pro-Bowl center Frank Ragnow for most of the season. Lions offensive line coach Hank Fraley has done a job rallying the troops when players go down due to injury. Last year Evan Brown filled in nicely for Ragnow. With Vaitai now injured, Fraley will rely on backups Tommy Kraemer and Logan Stenberg to fill the void on the O-line. Erik Schlitt from Pride Of Detroit reports the team claimed OL Drew Forbes off of waivers from Cleveland to fill Vaitai’s spot on the 53-man roster.
Vaitai is the latest addition to the Lions players starting the 2022 season on the sidelines. Detroit currently has six players due to various injuries that will miss a minimum of four games. Three starters from last year’s roster will not be on the field anytime soon; this includes FB Jason Cabinda, DE Romeo Okwara, and Vaitai. Okwara and Cabinda are on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list with second-year DB Jerry Jacobs and Rookie DL Josh Paschal. Lions Rookie WR Jameson Williams is on the Non-football Injury (NFI) list stemming from an ACL injury he suffered in the National Championship game at the University of Alabama last season. It’s next man up again for Detroit time will tell if their backups are up to the task.
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