Lions linebacker Zack Follett is out for the remainder of the season after being placed on injured reserve Wednesday by the Lions. Follett suffered a neck injury after taking a helmet-to-helmet hit against the Giants, and the decision was made on Wednesday to put him on IR, as first reported by Tom Kowalski.
Just days after Follett suffered the injury, which left him motionless and required a stretcher to take him off the field, Jim Schwartz was hopeful that Follett would be back relatively quickly. The Lions weren't going to rush him back or anything, but Schwartz sounded optimistic about Follett not only being able to play again this season, but being able to play in the next few weeks.
As time has gone by and Follett has started to recover from his injury, it still seemed like he would be back sooner rather than later. Everything we heard was encouraging, so this sort of came out of left field a bit. I guess a player going on IR after suffering a neck injury shouldn't be all that surprising when you think about it, but I guess I didn't expect Follett to be out for the remainder of the season. Although the injury was serious, it seemed like he was going to be back, but then again, it's probably for the best that he takes an extended period of time to fully recovery, especially since he said he's had neck issues in the past.
It's disappointing for everyone involved that Follett is on IR, but honestly, I'm just glad he appears to be all right in general. When he first went down, it seemed like another Mike Utley type of moment, but thankfully Follett regained feeling in his extremities and made it back to Detroit okay all things considered. It will be a blow to the linebacker corps with Follett out, but some things in life are more important than football, and this is one of those cases. Here's to a full and speedy recovery.