Lions DT Alim McNeill out for season with torn ACL; Carlton Davis III suffers broken jaw

Nolan Bianchi, The Detroit News on Dec 16, 2024

Published in Football

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DETROIT — The Detroit Lions' worst fears about injuries to defensive tackle Alim McNeill and cornerback Carlton Davis III have come true.

McNeill suffered a torn ACL and is out for the season, while Davis suffered a broken jaw that'll keep him out at least six weeks, a league source confirmed to The Detroit News on Monday.

After Sunday's 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field, Lions coach Dan Campbell speculated that both players' injuries could be season-ending. The one silver lining is that Davis' six-week return timeline could put him in line to return for the NFC Championship, should the Lions make it that far.

In the meantime, however, the loss of both players is significant. Assuming both players — and cornerback Khalil Dorsey, who also suffered a devastating ankle injury on Sunday — are placed on injured reserve, that'll make it a whopping 14 defensive players on injured reserve for the Lions at the most critical point of their season.

Sunday's 48-point outburst from the Bills was a reminder of how quickly things can change; Detroit had the league's best-scoring defense entering the game.

Besides the injured Aidan Hutchinson — who, despite only playing five games, still leads the Lions with 45 pressures — McNeill led the Lions in that category with 40. He had 3.5 sacks rushing from the interior and was a critical piece of the team's excellent run defense, recording 25 tackles.

Davis is second on the team in pass defenses (11). He has two interceptions, a forced fumble, two recoveries and 42 combined tackles. The Lions' defense was predicated on Davis and rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold holding their own in man coverage.

McNeill, a third-round pick in the first draft class (2021) of general manager Brad Holmes, signed a four-year contract extension with Detroit in October, so his future with the team is certain.

But it's possible we've seen the last of Davis in a Lions uniform.

The veteran cornerback was acquired from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers via trade last offseason and is on an expiring contract. The Lions might want to bring him back after an excellent season, but Detroit also drafted a pair of cornerbacks (Arnold, Alabama; Ennis Rakestraw, Missouri) with their first two picks in the 2024 draft and inked cornerback Amik Robertson to a two-year deal.

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