The Detroit Lions are set to open up the regular season against their longstanding rivals, the Green Bay Packers, at Lambeau Field on Sunday afternoon.
For the Lions, who have had the Packers’ number for the last few years, they’re looking forward to knocking Green Bay down a peg after their big trade for Micah Parsons. Detroit enters this game mostly healthy, but it will likely be without one of its running backs for the regular season opener.
On Friday, the Lions listed second-year running back Sione Vaki as out with a hamstring injury. The young running back logged three DNPs throughout this week. With Vaki not playing in the regular season opener, the Lions announced that they promoted running back Jacob Saylors to the active squad from the practice squad.
The Lions hope Saylors only has to play this week against the Packers, but given the nature of Vaki’s injury, this could be a more serious situation.
Lions RB Sione Vaki Still Hampered by Lingering Hamstring Injury
The 24-year-old running back has struggled to shake the injury bug throughout this summer, as he sustained a leg injury at the beginning of training camp. Thankfully, the former fourth-round pick made his return to the practice field towards the midway point of August.
Vaki played in the Lions’ third preseason game against the Miami Dolphins, where he had 30 yards on five carries, along with two receptions for -2 yards. That said, Vaki did not play in the preseason finale against the Houston Texans, as he was banged up in Detroit’s joint practice.
At the time, head coach Dan Campbell sounded somewhat concerned about Vaki’s status, but also said, “it’s not a major thing,” per Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit.
As we can see, this hamstring injury is a sizable concern, and the fact that Vaki didn’t practice does not bode well. Thankfully, the Lions have one of the best running back duos with Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery. And not to mention, they have a veteran in Craig Reynolds, who can serve as the RB3 and play special teams.
That said, the Lions were likely hoping Vaki could be ready for the season opener. However, this is a huge opportunity for former St. Louis Battlehawks RB Jacob Saylors, who did not make the 53-man roster out of training camp. But Saylors looked the part of an NFL running back with the snaps he got in the preseason.