Longtime Lions starting left tackle Jeff Backus injured his thumb this past Saturday and was subsequently held out of team drills Sunday and Monday. According to Chris McCosky of the Detroit News, Corey Williams and Jason Fox filled in for the injured Backus who was also wearing a hard cast to protect the injured thumb which is now believed to be broken.
Backus, who had his contract extended during the offseason has been extremely durable during his time in the NFL playing in 176 straight games since being drafted by the Lions in 2001. He’s also had his share of injury concerns recently having missed most of last years training camp with a pectoral muscle injury and injuring his bicep during the Lions’ playoff loss to New Orleans in January. But with last season’s training camp injury in mind the Lions more than likely aren’t too concerned considering he was able to miss the time he missed and return in time for the regular season.
Riley Reiff playing status
Lions first round draft pick Riley Reiff has been working at RT with the second and third team units in training camp thus far. Going forward though it’s still anticipated that he will have a chance to earn a starting spot out of camp and could be a guy to keep an eye on with the injury to Backus.
Ref: Detroit Free Press
