The Lions unsurprisingly placed tight end Dan Campbell on the injured reserve today. Campbell has been bothered by a lingering hamstring injury that just never seemed to get better. He missed all of the preseason and was limited in practice when he was healthy enough to return.
In Sunday's game, Campbell re-injured his hamstring injury on the only catch he made. As soon as the play was over Campbell limped off the field, and the feeling yesterday was that he probably was going to be out for an extended period of time. Knowing that, the Lions decided to put him on the IR for the second straight season.
To replace Campbell on the roster, the Lions signed wide receiver Brandon Middleton. Middleton had a solid finish to the preseason and would have been the Lions' fifth receiver if they kept that many. They didn't, though, and decided to carry an extra tight end instead, so Middleton was cut. However, now that Campbell is gone, the Lions will have five receivers on the active roster, meaning Middleton is back with the team.
Losing Campbell hurts, but it isn't a devastating injury by any means. The Lions have solid depth at tight end anyways, and the addition of Middleton will hopefully help Detroit's special teams as he is likely going to return kicks this week. Mike Furrey didn't do much of anything on kick returns against Atlanta, so hopefully Middleton will some success against Green Bay.