Lions rookie RB Jermar Jefferson leaves practice with leg injury

Detroit Lions running back and seventh-round pick Jermar Jefferson left Monday’s practice early with a leg injury and did not return.

About halfway through practice, which was moved indoors after a thunderstorm rolled through Allen Park, Jefferson was working on a special teams drill. As part of the punt protection group, Jefferson had two players attack his side of the field. Jefferson got knocked over and both players spilled over him. When Jefferson got up, he had a significant limp.

He tried to work through it, but after a couple of minutes with the trainers on the side of the field, he returned to the locker room.

Jefferson has been having a very solid camp, as he has looked comfortable working with both the first and second-team offenses. He’s clearly a step ahead of the rest of Detroit’s running back crew behind starters D’Andre Swift and Jamaal Williams.

With the Lions’ preseason game just four days away, the team could be facing off against the Buffalo Bills a bit shorthanded in the backfield. Detroit is already limiting Swift’s workload, so it's possible he won’t get any playing time on Friday. If Jefferson’s injury is significant enough to hold him out too, it will likely mean we see a lot of Dedrick Milles, Michael Warren, and Godwin Igwebuike on gameday.

But before we get too ahead of ourselves, we’ll have to see how significant of an injury Jefferson is dealing with. Head coach Dan Campbell has been very open about team injuries in training camp, so we’ll likely get an update before Tuesday’s practice.