Several former Detroit Lions battling through injuries in Week 2

Week 2 was devastating for a bunch of teams when it comes to injuries. We all know how bad the Detroit Lions came out against the Seattle Seahawks, topped by Monday night’s shocking news that safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson could miss the rest of the season with a torn pectoral. But the bad injury news was hardly localized to Detroit. Nick Chubb suffered a brutal knee injury on Monday night, Saquon Barkley will miss a few games with an ankle sprain, and Anthony Richardson suffered a concussion on Sunday.

Weekly, we’ll be checking in on Lions players who went elsewhere this offseason, and unfortunately this week, several of them are also battling through injuries at the moment.

Here’s your weekly check-in with Lions players who moved on this offseason.

Week 1 results: Several former Lions struggle in debut

Note: These are only players who were not brought back in 2023. For example, T.J. Hockenson was not included because we’ve already seen him in a Vikings uniform (he had seven catches for 66 yards and two touchdowns if you want to know so bad).

Week 2

RB D’Andre Swift — Eagles

Stats: 28 carries, 175 yards, 1 TD; 3 catches, 6 yards

As we noted on Thursday night, Swift had a career night after being thrust into the workhorse back role with Kenneth Gainwell inactive. You can read more on Swift’s fantastic night here.

RB Jamaal Williams — Saints

Stats: 9 carries, 29 yards

Unfortunately, Williams suffered a hamstring injury in the first half of the Saints’ Monday night contest against the Panthers and he did not return. It’s too early to know how serious the injury is, but hopefully, he’ll be okay.

Williams’ replacement, Tony Jones Jr.—who was elevated from the practice squad—finished with 34 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries.

WR DJ Chark — Panthers

Stats: 1 catch (1 target), 15 yards

After missing last week with an injury, Chark made his Panthers debut on Monday night. Carolina eased him in, and he only ended up playing 37 snaps—62 percent of the offensive reps.

In addition to his one catch, Chark also drew a pass interference for an 18-yard penalty.

C Evan Brown — Seahawks

Brown continues to be the Seahawks’ starter at center. He did suffer a knee injury during Sunday’s game against the Lions, but he returned to action and finished the game—only missing six snaps in the process. Brown did not allow a single pressure against the Lions and finished with a 70.1 PFF grade.

LB Josh Woods — Cardinals

Stats: DNP (ankle injury)

Woods did not practice all week and was declared out for the Cardinals’ Week 2 game.

LB Chris Board — Patriots

Stats: 1 tackle

Board continues to be solely a special teamer for the Patriots, playing in 22 snaps in that phase (and zero on defense). Board was called for an illegal formation on Sunday night during a kickoff.

CB Amani Oruwariye — Giants

Stats: DNP

Oruwariye suffered a scary neck injury last week during a special teams drill in practice. He was placed on a backboard and taken to the hospital.

Thankfully, it appears Oruwariye avoided a devastating injury, as the Giants released the following statement:

Amani Oruwariye, a defensive back on the practice squad, suffered a neck injury during practice today.

He had movement in all his extremities and was taken to Hackensack Medical Center for further evaluation. The results of the evaluation and testing were negative, and Oruwariye was cleared to return to the team’s facility.

Oruwariye also tweeted this out shortly after the injury:

As of now, Oruwariye remains on the Giants’ practice squad.

CB Mike Hughes — Falcons

Stats: 1 kick return, 19 yards; 2 punt returns, 20 yards

After being inactive in Week 1, Hughes played on special teams for Atlanta against the Packers. Interestingly, he was the Falcons’ return man—something he’s done sporadically throughout his career but didn’t do at all in Detroit. He did get a single defensive snap in but didn’t record a stat on that side of the ball.

CB Jeff Okudah — Falcons

Stats: DNP

Okudah returned to practice last week after missing over a month of practice with an ankle injury suffered in training camp. Despite being limited for all three practices last week, Okudah was inactive against the Packers.

It certainly looks like the former Lions first-round pick will make his Falcons debut in Detroit this week.

CB Starling Thomas — Cardinals

Stats: DNP

For the second straight week, Thomas was a healthy inactive for Arizona.

S DeShon Elliott — Dolphins

Stats: 4 tackles, pass defended, fumble recovery

As he did in Week 1, DeShon Elliott played every defensive snap for the Dolphins again this week. While he went from 13 tackles last week to just four this week, he notched a pass defense against the Dolphins and this fumble recovery.