Detroit Lions cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. stretches after practice during OTAs at Meijer Performance Center in Allen Park on Friday, May 30, 2025. Junfu Han / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

Lions' offseason turns into full-blown headache after latest costly setback

Originally posted on Side Lion Report | By Matt Sidney | Last updated Jul 20, 2025 12:05 PM ET

You know how the saying goes, "If you don't like the weather, just wait five minutes." But what if that saying doesn’t apply to Detroit, where the skies just relentlessly dump bad news into social media feeds without a care in the world for our mental state? Do we just wait five minutes?

Not even a day after announcing Levi Onwuzurike's season-ending injury , the Detroit Lions find themselves with another name potentially hitting the injury report.

That player would be second-year cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. left practice earlier today with a chest injury. It's not the best timing for the 23-year-old, who's looking to take full advantage of training camp reps after an injury-plagued rookie season.

Lions CB Ennis Rakestraw left practice today and is being evaluated for a chest injury.
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) July 20, 2025

To say these Lions injury updates are already getting old really fast would be the understatement of the century. It's only Day 1 of training camp. Ugh.

Things for the Lions are already going from bad to worse

Just when you thought the upcoming season might be a beacon of hope, coming off of one of the most injury-filled seasons in recent memory, the 2025 offseason said, "Hold my beer."

With Onwuzurike out for the season, and Rakestraw suffering this chest injury, it's safe to question if the Lions are just cursed at this point.

Brought in to fix the Lions' 27th-ranked pass defense, Rakestraw was selected with the 61st pick in the 2024 NFL Draft. His selection came right after Brad Holmes traded up in the first round to select cornerback Terrion Arnold with the 24th overall pick.

The team viewed the Missouri alumnus as the second-best CB in the draft, praising him for his competitive nature and physicality on the outside. He checked three major boxes seemingly all Lions defensive backs must have: tough in press-coverage, sticky in man-coverage, and isn't afraid to come up and make a play to stop the run.

However, his rookie season was anything but—it was underwhelming for a bunch of reasons. His health played a big factor, but even when he was healthy, he couldn't fit the billing of a second-round pick. So, no matter how you slice it, this injury setback is not what the doctor ordered.

Fingers crossed it's a minor injury and nothing newsworthy. We don't know the severity yet, but he'll need all the training camp and preseason reps he can get to get his career back on track. It’s peak mid-July eyeroll stuff—and Lions fans are sadly pros at this by now.