Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press is reporting that Lions starting left tackle Jeff Backus has sustained an injury to his left pectoral muscle, which could be a partial tear, leaving his status for the start of training camp up in the air.
An injury to the pectoral muscle can hold a guy out for a number of games like New York Giants WR Steve Smith who missed four games last season because of the injury. However Elvis Dumervil of the Denver Broncos ended up missing the entire season because of the same injury.
A Lions source says that the injury is not serious however how much can you trust those team sources during a time when teams are supposed to have zero contact with its players?
If Backus is to miss any time, the Lions may give Jason Fox (who only played in one game a season ago) more playing time. The Lions may also opt to sign a free agent once free agency starts up again.
Jeff Backus is a guy who has fallen under tremendous scrutiny in the past with Lions fans. Now despite that scrutiny, Backus is part of an offensive line that isn’t great by any means, but does a good job in protecting the QB.
If Backus is out for a good number of games, I can almost hear Lions fans start singing “don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone” by Cinderella.
Source: Detroit Free Press, ESPN