Detroit Lions News: Romeo Okwara out for the season with torn Achilles

The Detroit Lions have suffered another significant injury on the defensive side of the ball. Pass rusher Romeo Okwara will be out for the rest of the season with a torn Achilles.

Okwara will join Jeff Okudah as two Lions defensive starters to be sidelined with Achilles injuries. The Detroit Lions continue to take hits on a unit that cannot afford another loss, but they just keep coming.

The Detroit Lions are losing Romeo Okwara for the remainder of the season.

Since joining the Lions in 2018, Okwara has been a standout on a struggling defensive unit. Okwara finished last season with ten sacks and 44 tackles. He was the leading pass rusher for the team. This year Okwara has registered one sack and six tackles. While the numbers haven’t really matched his start to last season, Okwara’s loss will have a massive impact on this defense.

According to ESPN Analytics, the Lions have the worst pass rush in the entire NFL. Losing a player with Okwara’s talents will keep the pass-rushing unit from climbing out of the cellar.  On Sunday, the Lions were without pass rusher Trey Flowers as the former Patriot is dealing with a shoulder injury. Whatever the situation may be with Flowers, the Lions hope to have him healthy for the remainder of the season in order to deal with the loss of Okwara.

NFL teams have to adopt the next-man-up mentality as another NFC North matchup looms on Sunday as the Lions will travel to Minnesota to take on the Vikings. The defense has dealt with adversity for most of the season, but so does every other team.

This is still a team looking for their first victory of the season. They must not allow another injury to derail the defensive unit completely. Finding a replacement on the roster will be a difficult task for coach Campbell and the staff.