Lions injury update: Latest news on Alex Anzalone, Penei Sewell

When it became clear that the Detroit Lions were going to play their starters against the San Francisco 49ers, the goal for many became clear: leave Santa Clarita without any major injuries. It appears the Lions succeeded in that goal, but coach Dan Campbell did provide two very important injury updates in his post-game press conference after the team’s 40-34 win.

First, there’s All-Pro right tackle Penei Sewell. Lions writers on hand noticed that Sewell left the first half early, missing Detroit’s final kneel down of the half to get to the locker room. Sewell did return to the game and play the entire second half, but Campbell said that he suffered a thumb injury in the game, although it’s not considered a long-term issue.

“No, shouldn’t be (long-term),” Campbell said. “He should be good.”

Campbell didn’t expand beyond that, so it’s unclear if his status for Sunday’s finale against the Minnesota Vikings is in question at all, but he didn’t sound overly concerned. Detroit will owe its first injury report on Wednesday.

The other injury update was on linebacker Alex Anzalone, who has been on injured reserve since breaking his forearm in Week 11 against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Anzalone hasn’t returned to practice yet, but Campbell keeps mentioning he’s close to returning. Could he potentially return for Week 18?

“We’ll see,” Campbell said. “He’s doing well. He’s close. He’s really close.”

The Lions linebacker room has struggled without Anzalone, Derrick Barnes, Malcolm Rodriguez, and Jalen Reeves-Maybin—all on injured reserve—over the last couple of months. Reeves-Maybin did return on Monday against the 49ers, but it’s clear Detroit’s second level of their defense needs more help. We’ll see if Anzalone has enough time to turn things around in a short week to appear in the Lions’ all-important regular season finale with the No. 1 seed on the line.