The Detroit Lions injury situation continues to get more dire. Second-year wide receiver Quintez Cephus went down with a shoulder injury in the second quarter of Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings and did not return. According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Cephus suffered a broken collarbone on the play, and it may be a season-ending injury.
Following the contest, Lions head coach Dan Campbell made it pretty clear Cephus’ injury was serious.
“Yeah, it looks like it’s in the shoulder, front area,” Campbell said. “Could be his clavicle, could be his shoulder—but it doesn’t look good.”
Cephus was just starting to emerge as one of the Lions’ better receiving options. He currently has 15 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns—all team highs for Lions wide receivers. Much of that production came over the last couple weeks, too, as Cephus tallied a career-high 83 yards in Week 4 and was on his way to another productive game Sunday before the injury.
The Lions will now have to dig further into its depth chart at receiver. With No. 1 receiver Tyrell Williams still sidelined with a concussion suffered in Week 1, Detroit’s outside receiver depth chart includes Kalif Raymond, KhaDarel Hodge, and Trinity Benson. Those last two have only been with the team a month and have combined for just 94 yards this season.
There is no clear indication as to when Williams is expected to return from his concussion, but the Lions are running short of options at wide receiver and you can certainly notice the results on the field.
UPDATE: Pelissero provided more detail, saying Cephus’ shoulder requires surgery and a three month recovery. So his season is essentially over.
Quintez Cephus is slated to undergo surgery and is facing a three-month recovery, source said. So unless Detroit rallies from 0-5 to make a playoff run, Cephus’ season is almost surely over. https://t.co/Eo6BXwGFU0
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) October 11, 2021
