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Going into Thursday night's preseason game, the Detroit Lions had been very lucky in the injury department. Several guys have gotten banged up since the start of training camp, but there haven't been any serious injuries to important contributors. Considering how many guys in the NFL seem to go down with season-ending injuries every day, the Lions were really fortunate.
On Thursday, the injuries started to pile up, and the Lions may have suffered their first truly significant one of the 2013 campaign. Midway through the second quarter, running back Montell Owens took a handoff from Matthew Stafford and almost immediately went down in pain. It was a dreaded non-contact knee injury, which more often than not ends up being something serious. Owens was on crutches and had a brace on his left knee following the game, and Jim Schwartz provided this update:
Jim Schwartz said there were some "encouraging" signs with initial tests on Montell Owens. More tomorrow.
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) August 23, 2013
The Lions lost linebacker Cory Greenwood to what is believed to be a season-ending shoulder injury last week, and he was poised to contribute on special teams. However, losing Owens for the season would be a much bigger blow. Owens is expected to get work on offense and be one of the Lions' top special teams players. He also brings leadership to the locker room, so it would be a tough blow if his injury ends up being as serious as feared.
In other injury news, safety Glover Quin left Thursday's game with a hip injury. It's nothing serious, though.
#Lions @GloverQuin27 got hit in hip by teammate (friendly fire) - shouldn't miss time. Would have played on in regular season.
— Tom Leyden (@TomLeyden) August 23, 2013
Tight end Michael Williams also left Thursday's game. He jammed his hand, according to Tom Leyden, and Josh Katzenstein reports that Williams had it "heavily wrapped" after the game.
Finally, defensive end Ziggy Ansah briefly had to be attended to by trainers after he clipped his right knee on another player. He ran off the field with a limp, but he did so under his own power and returned to the game shortly after. This thankfully doesn't seem like anything to be concerned about going forward.