Detroit Lions All-Pro tight end Sam LaPorta looks like he will play against the Los Angeles Rams in the Wild Card round of the NFL playoffs.
According to a report from NFL Network, Detroit Lions tight end Sam LaPorta is trending towards playing on Sunday night in the team’s Wild Card matchup with the Los Angeles Rams.
“#Lions Pro Bowl rookie TE Sam LaPorta, who suffered a bone bruise and hyperextended knee, is trending in the right direction to play vs the #Rams, per me and @TomPelissero,” Ian Rapoport tweeted on Sunday morning. “Very limited in practice, LaPorta will likely wear a brace. But he intends to be out there with his team.”
Most considered LaPorta a long-shot to play this week, but the rookie tight end got some post-practice work in on Thursday, and the Lions listed him as a full participant during Friday’s practice. This week, LaPorta did indeed say he’d wear a knee brace if he does play on Sunday.
“I‘ll probably play with the knee brace as a precautionary thing, just to make sure that hyperextension doesn’t happen again, in the rare case the cleat gets caught in the turf again and something bad were to happen,” LaPorta said. “I think you would see me with the knee brace out there, but I’m not sure how much it would inhibit me or practically keep it from happening again.”
Getting LaPorta back, even in a limited fashion, would be huge for a Lions offense that largely relied on him in every facet of the game. Not only is he second on the team in receptions (86) and receiving yards (889), but he’s also a key cog in the run game, ranking only behind four starting offensive linemen in run blocking snaps this season.
We’ll find out for certain whether LaPorta is playing when inactives are released 90 minutes before kickoff.
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