Report: Lions DT Joel Heath suffers torn ACL, out for season

*Update: Per the NFL transaction wire, on May 27, 2021, the Lions placed Heath on injured reserve.

According to NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero, Detroit Lions defensive tackle Joel Heath suffered a torn ACL at practice as will miss the entire 2021 season. Per Pelissero, Heath went down in a “freak” injury during individual bag drills.

The Lions signed Heath back in February to a futures deal to add help to their defensive line depth. A former Michigan State Spartan, Heath spent four years with the Houston Texans, playing in 32 games and starting 16. His best season was in 2017 when he amassed 24 tackles and 1.0 sacks in 13 games.

He signed with the Denver Broncos in 2020, but opted out due to COVID-19 concerns. Now he’ll unfortunately miss a second straight season, this time due to an unlucky injury.

At this time, the Lions have not commented on the injury, and no media has been present for the first two days of Organized Team Activities, which started on Tuesday.

We wish Heath a speedy recovery and hope to see him back on the playing field in 2022.