The 2025 NFL season has been a bumpy ride for Detroit Lions cornerback Terrion Arnold. The former first-round pick's season has been hampered by injuries and poor performances, with an abysmal outing against the Minnesota Vikings in Week 9 leaving Lions fans concerned about whether things would improve before they worsened.
Fast forward to Sunday, and it looked like Arnold was ready to silence his doubters early in the 44-22 win over the Washington Commanders. The 22-year-old pass disruptor was sitting at an 84.5 coverage (one 10-yard catch on three targets, 43.8 passer rating) and 63.4 run defense grades on Pro Football Focus before he left the game with a concussion in the second quarter and was subsequently ruled out.
With how uncertain concussion recovery times can be, it's safe to say that the Lions' Terrion Arnold problem is bigger than it ever has been.
Latest Terrion Arnold Injury Could Impact Future with Lions
It's reaching the point where Arnold's 2025 season might be defined by his injuries. The ex-Alabama CB previously dealt with a shoulder injury that forced him to miss Weeks 6 and 7, and the hope was that he could enjoy a clean second half after putting that ailment behind him. Now, he'll have to navigate the NFL's concussion protocol, which will require him to clear several steps before even returning to practice.
Depending on how long his concussion persists (or if another injury arises), the Lions might start to rethink Arnold's role as the franchise's star cornerback. Less than two seasons into his pro career might be too early to cut ties, but it's at least enough of a sample size for Detroit to know if he's "the guy." And whenever he's been healthy, one can argue that Arnold has looked anything but like that.
There are some things that the second-year defender does well, such as limiting opposing quarterbacks to a 56.8% completion rate on 37 attempts. On the flip side, Arnold has struggled in run defense all season; his 13.3% missed tackle rate is nearly twice as high as in 2024 (6.9%), and he's even been called for six penalties through Week 10 after being flagged just 10 times in nine more games last season. He also has more games with a sub-60.0 PFF defense grade (5) than he does with a better effort (2).
The best-case scenario is for Arnold to get healthy and return with a vengeance down the stretch. As shown on Sunday, he's capable of being a reliable pass disruptor when he's on his game. The issue is that those performances have been too few and far between, so stringing multiple strong starts together would go a long way to squashing any lingering doubt out there.
If not, and Arnold either remains sidelined or a defensive liability, Lions general manager Brad Holmes will have a lot to think about this offseason. Between free agency (Tariq Woolen, Roger McCreary, Jaylen Watson) and the NFL draft (LSU's Mansoor Delane, Tennessee's Jermod McCoy), there will be plenty of cornerbacks for Holmes to pursue in 2026 if he doesn't think that Arnold is CB1 material.
With that in mind, all eyes will be on the oft-injured Lion to see if he can prove that the juice is worth the squeeze before the season is over.