Lions' Mikel Leshoure Out For Season With Torn Achilles Injury

Throughout training camp the Detroit Lions have had to deal with injuries. While many were significant, none were expected to keep players out during the regular season. In fact, the most serious injury before today was a broken foot to first-round draft pick Nick Fairley, and he already had surgery and is expected to return prior to the start of the regular season.

The same can't be said for second-round draft pick Mikel Leshoure, who went down with an injury during practice this morning and had to be carted off the field. He has a torn Achilles, and the Lions have already announced he will miss the season. Here is what Jim Schwartz had to say about the injury:

"You could tell on the field from the way he went down," said Head Coach Jim Schwartz following practice. "There are no more tests that need to be done. He’ll have surgery very soon - probably tomorrow."

"We have some work to do there," said Schwartz of the team's offensive strategy. "(We need to) change plans a little bit. But there’s a lot covered between now and the beginning of the regular season. We’ll work through it the best we can."

There's no spinning this news. It's a huge blow to the Lions' offense. While Jahvid Best is a solid running back, Leshoure was expected to bring some added explosiveness to the backfield. All of the reports about his play during camp so far had been very positive, and to lose him for the year before a game is even played is a terrible thing.