The Lions’ injury list kept growing Sunday, and the biggest concern came with Jack Campbell.
Dan Campbell said after the game that he had no new update on the linebacker, who was taken to a local hospital after suffering a neck injury in Detroit’s loss to the Vikings. Campbell went down on the opening play of the fourth quarter while trying to make a tackle on Vikings tight end T.J.
Hockenson. He stayed on the turf for several minutes, then needed help from multiple medical staff members before being placed on a stretcher and carted off.
It was only the latest blow in a rough afternoon for Detroit’s defense. The Lions lost five defensive players in the divisional matchup, and the damage started piling up early.
Center Cade Mays, playing in just his second game of the season, left with an ankle injury. Juice Scruggs stepped in and finished the game at center after starting the first five games of the year for Detroit.
Later in the first half, DJ Wonnum and Brian Branch collided while going after Vikings receiver Justin Jefferson with 2:57 left in the opening half. Wonnum was carted off and did not return.
Branch also never came back, and he was ruled out for the second half with a concussion. With Branch sidelined, rookie Keith Abney II saw a heavy workload at safety.
Branch was in only his second game of the 2026 season. In his return against the Packers the week before, he picked off a Jordan Love pass intended for Christian Watson and posted the top Pro Football Focus overall grade among Lions defenders that week.
The hits kept coming after Campbell’s injury, too. Linebacker Jimmy Rolder, a fourth-round pick in April, was hurt on the same play. That came one snap after he had dropped Minnesota running back Jordan Mason for a five-yard loss.
Then on the next defensive series, Detroit lost its top corner, D.J. Reed, to a hip injury. Minnesota took advantage of the battered secondary, with Kyler Murray hitting Jordan Addison for a 51-yard touchdown and later finding Hockenson for an 8-yard score.
Jacob Saylors also left in the first half with a neck injury and did not return for the rest of Week 8.
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Lions Win Took A Back Seat To One Frightening Jack Campbell Scene
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The stand is set to travel with the Lions again for the game in Munich, Germany, giving the team another local touchpoint far from home. It also comes with a community-minded angle, since the volunteer staff working the stand benefits various organizations, which fits neatly with the kind of neighborhood feel the Lions have tried to build around their home games. [Read more 🡒]