Detroit aimed to better its NFC seeding on Sunday and paid a price in the process.
Lions tight end Sam LaPorta suffered a hyperextended knee and a bone bruise in the team's 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings and is likely to miss some time, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported, per sources.
"The best way I can put it is it's not as bad as it looked, but it's not good news," head coach Dan Campbell said of the injury in his postgame news conference. "We'll know more tomorrow. I know it looked awful. It's not as bad as that."
LaPorta sustained the injury on his fifth catch of the game when he collected a third-down pass to move the sticks and got his leg stuck awkwardly in the turf.
He was carted to the locker room for evaluation and ruled out shortly after.
It's a big injury for one of the league's emerging stars.
Earlier in the contest, LaPorta had become just the third rookie TE in NFL history to score 10 touchdowns in his first season, and he also broke Keith Jackson's 35-year-old rookie record for receptions at the position with 86. He'll finish his inaugural campaign with 889 regular-season receiving yards.
His injury comes at a critical time for Detroit as it heads into Super Wild Card Weekend.
Along with weapons Amon-Ra St. Brown, David Montgomery and fellow rookie Jahmyr Gibbs, LaPorta is a key part of quarterback Jared Goff's well-oiled offensive machine that entered Sunday ranked fifth in scoring and third in yards.
Despite the victory, the Lions have finished as the NFC's No. 3 seed following Dallas' win in the second slate of games.
They'll now have to enter their first postseason since 2016 likely needing to win at least one game to see LaPorta back on the field this season.
