Team news: Detroit Lions | Page 3

The fact that Sam LaPorta's a rookie playing one of the hardest positions in football makes what he’s doing all the more impressive. He’s been everything the Lions have wanted and more.

LaPorta leads all tight ends in receiving yards (186), ranks second in receptions (18) and third in yards after the catch (76). He’s been reliable, as eight of his 18 catches have gone for a first down. Of his 186 receiving yards, 129 have come in zone coverage, where he’s been able to find the soft spots and work in space (56 of his 76 YAC have come versus zone coverage). He’s the first tight end in NFL history to record at least five receptions in each of his first three games. His 18 receptions are the most for a tight end through his first three games, and his 186 yards are the second-most.

The Lions traded down from 6 to 12 in the NFL Draft this past spring. They passed on the likes of Bijan Robinson and selected Jahmyr Gibbs, but used the extra pick to select LaPorta, a player they saw as someone who could step in and replace T.J. Hockenson, who they traded to the Vikings. The story said LaPorta was one of the most game-ready players in the draft. He doesn't seem to be going away any time soon and it's possible he's still on the wire in your league as he's available in about 35% of ESPN leagues as of this news post.

Lions RB David Montgomery (thigh) is doubtful for Sunday. WR Amon-Ra St. Brown (toe) is questionable, and LT Taylor Decker (ankle) is out again.

Related Players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

The Gibbs breakout game may be coming sooner than expected, but we imagine that the team will give Reynolds plenty of early-down run if Montgomery misses Week 3. Gibbs is currently ranked as the RB10 in 4for4's rankings.

Lions’ WR Amon-Ra St. Brown was back at practice today, but RB David Montgomery was not.

Related Players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

The Gibbs breakout game may be coming sooner than expected, but we imagine that the team will give Reynolds plenty of early-down run if Montgomery misses Week 3. Gibbs is currently ranked as the RB10 in 4for4's rankings.

RB Zonovan Knight to the Lions’ practice squad up to their active roster with David Montgomery (thigh) dinged up.

Related players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

Knight gets the call after Montgomery was injured in Week 2. Monty is considered day-to-day, but reports have said he could miss a couple of weeks, and the promotion of Knight could certainly indicate that. Gibbs and Reynolds should split the workload, but Knight will probably get some chances as well. He looked good enough with the Jets last year that if Monty does miss a few weeks, Knight could potentially work his way up to the RB2 slot.

Source: Browns WR Amari Cooper (groin) still was not feeling 100% ready to go this morning, but will give it a go in warmups today and go from there.

Related players: Amari Cooper, Elijah Moore, Donovan Peoples-Jones, Cedric Tillman, David Njoku

Cooper is still a game time decision, but was in pain this morning. If Cooper can't go, Moore and Peoples-Jones would likely suck up a bunch of the targets from the WR spot. The rookie Tillman could also get more involved, as could TE Njoku.

Lions’ RB David Montgomery, who did not finish Sunday’s game and was limping after, told reporters he it would take “a couple weeks” for his quad injury to heal.

Related players: Jahmyr Gibbs, Craig Reynolds

Gibbs should see a bump in touches but the Lions may not yet want to give him a bulk of the workload in terms of carries. Gibbs had seven receptions for 39 yards and added seven carries for 17 yards and should still remain highly involved in the passing game, but Reynolds could see his share of the carries Monty would normally get. We'll keep you posted about any kind of RB workload news as the week goes on.

Lions RB David Montgomery was carted to the locker room with a leg injury during Sunday's game against the Seahawks.

Montgomery had his knee twisted as he was making a catch. Montgomery had a nice day before the injury, rushing for 67 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts and adding a 7-yard catch. While he is out, perhaps we start seeing more of rookie Jahmyr Gibbs. Hopefully the injury for Montgomery isn't serious.

Rookie RB Evan Hull on IR with knee injury. RB Jake Funk added to active roster from PS.

Related players: Deon Jackson, Zack Moss

It's another blow to a struggling Colt running game that didn't get much of a chance to see what Hull could do before he got hurt in Week 1. Jackson wasn't great but could be in line for at least a lot of snaps in Week 2. We've seen reports that Moss could also return this week from an arm injury.

The Colts could get veteran Zack Moss back for next week’s game against the Houston Texans. He’s coming off a broken arm suffered in training camp and returned to practice last week.

Related players: Jake Funk, Deon Jackson, Evan Hull

The story was mainly about the struggles of the Indy running game in Week 1. Jackson fumbled twice in the game and Hull was injured early. Moss was the team's RB1 to close out last season. Hull showed promise in camp, but is going to miss some time according to the story. So a Moss return could mean he slides right back into the RB1 spot for Week 2, and it's something to monitor this week. The team could also bring in another back, and the story mentioned Kareem Hunt.

RB Evan Hull "could miss some time" with knee injury, Steichen said, per FOX59's Mike Chappell.

Related players: Deon Jackson, Zack Moss, Jake Funk

Not good timing for the Colts who put Jonathan Taylor on IR and lost Moss to an arm injury this summer. That now leaves Jackson as the team's main back, pending an update on Moss sometime this week. The Colt RBs weren't really a factor in Week 1, outside of QB Anthony Richardson. Jackson did have five catches for 14 yards but outside of that carried 13 times for just 14 yards. The Colts have a winnable game in Week 2 at Houston so Jackson will likely have some fantasy value when our rankings come out later this week.