Latest news with #Rakestraw
USA Today
7 days ago
- Sport
- USA Today
Training camp medical preview: Cornerbacks
The cornerback position appears to be a team strength entering the season. There were some injuries last season but there are no significant concerns heading into training camp. Last season, six CB's made the initial 53-man roster (Terrion Arnold, Carlton Davis, Amik Robertson, Ennis Rakestraw, Kindle Vildor, Khalil Dorsey). Here is the list of CB's starting with the players with the biggest medical question marks entering the season. Ages are at the start of the season. #1: Khalil Dorsey - 27yo Dorsey was not ready for June OTA which was to be expected. He was placed on PUP at the start of training camp, but he has a good chance to be ready at some point during camp. The Lions showed confidence in his recovery by giving him a 2-year deal this offseason. On July 22, Dan Campbell stated that Dorsey's timeline was "hoping late camp" which is good news that he's on schedule. Projection: Dorsey potentially stays on PUP into the season. For roster management reasons, the Lions might give him extra time on PUP as long as the CB group stays healthy. Dorsey is one of the most valuable special teamers so that could be an impetus to activate him earlier. #2: Ennis Rakestraw - 23yo The calendar year 2024 was a difficult one for Rakestraw medically. After his college career, he had core muscle surgery sometime around early 2024. During the season, multiple hamstring strains limited him to just eight games. The year 2025 was going well so far as he was a full participant at OTA. However, on Day 1 of training camp, Rakestraw suffered a chest injury. Fortunately, the initial diagnosis is just a simple contusion (bruise). Projection: Rakestraw enters his second season competing to be a primary backup. The Lions certainly hope he earns that role as he enters the second year of his 4-year rookie deal. #3: DJ Reed - 28yo Reed enters the season healthy, but he did miss two games with a groin last year, one game with a knee last year, and three weeks with a concussion the year before. He's shown good availability the past three seasons playing 14, 15, and 17 games. Projection: Reed will continue to excel as a starting CB. There is a reason the Lions made him their biggest free agent signing. #4: Amik Robertson - 27yo His season ended in the playoff game with the arm fracture. There are no concerns going forward, as he was a full participant at OTA. Projection: Robertson will pick up right where he left off as a strong starter at the nickel position. He also likely serves as the primary backup at outside CB based on his impressive performances last year after Carlton Davis's jaw fracture. #5: Terrion Arnold - 23yo Last season as a rookie, he missed just one game due to a groin. He also had this worrisome-looking right foot/toe injury at the end of the season which turned out to be nothing serious. Projection: Arnold improved significantly over the course of last season as he cut down on his penalties. He takes another step forward this season forming an elite tandem with Reed. #6: Rock Ya-Sin - 29yo He's had some knee and foot issues in recent years but appeared to be healthy in limited action last season with the 49ers. He played 62 defensive snaps last year. Projection: He's in the mix to earn a backup position. But with no guarantees on his 1-year deal, that factor might determine whether he makes the 53-man roster. #7: Stantley Thomas-Oliver - 27yo Thomas-Oliver joined the Lions late last season and played five special teams snaps in Week 18. He's had a hamstring, thigh, and toe injury in his past. At the start of camp, he was placed on NFI (non football injury list) for unknown reasons, which could affect his ability to make the team. Projection: If the other CB's stay healthy, there may not be room for him on the 53-man roster. #8: Tyson Russell - age unknown The Lions signed this undrafted rookie at the start of camp. He played 13 games last year with Vanderbilt. Projection: He gets a chance with Thomas-Oliver on NFI. #9: Dicaprio Bootle - 27yo This 5th-year veteran was just signed at the start of camp.
USA Today
21-07-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ennis Rakestraw chest injury gets positive initial reported diagnosis
#Lions CB Ennis Rakestraw Jr., who left practice today early with an injury, is believed to have suffered just a chest contusion, source says. A positive outcome. Lions fans traumatized by last season's calamitous number of defensive injuries were unceremoniously thrown into the wringer on Day 1 of training camp. After Levi Onwuzurike was confirmed to be out for the season with an ACL, Ennis Rakestraw left practice with a chest injury. The 2024 calendar year was a rough one for Ennis Rakestraw medically. At the end of 2023 or early 2024, he had core muscle surgery. During last season, he missed ten games with two separate hamstring injuries. This offseason appeared to be a healthy one for Rakestraw, but the good feelings were immediately put in jeopardy today. The possibilities for a chest injury include a pec rupture which Lions fans have seen too frequently in the past couple years. Last season, Emmanuel Moseley ruptured his pec in early August, and Kyle Peko did the same in Week 6. The year prior saw CJ Gardner-Johnson rupture his pec in Week 2. Fortunately, the early news is excellent for Rakestraw as the initial diagnosis as reported by Ian Rapaport is a simple chest contusion (bruise). If the diagnosis holds true, it's an excellent outcome, and he should be back soon without any long-term effects. This scenario is déjà vu of last season when Terrion Arnold had a pec injury during preseason that may have also been a simple contusion. #Lions first-round CB Terrion Arnold, who left practice yesterday with a pec injury, is not expected to miss time in the regular season, sources say. Some good news. There will likely be many more injury scares over the course of training camp and preseason, and hopefully they all turn out as benign as Rakestraw's.
NBC Sports
20-07-2025
- Sport
- NBC Sports
Ennis Rakestraw injures chest in Lions practice
The Lions held their first practice of training camp on Sunday and they also experienced their first injury of the summer. Per multiple reports, cornerback Ennis Rakestraw had to leave the field early in the session. The team said that he is being evaluated for a chest injury. Rakestraw was a second-round pick last season, but was limited to eight regular season appearances because of a hamstring injury. He had six tackles in those appearances. Sunday opened with word that defensive tackle Levi Onwuzurike will miss the year with a torn ACL. The Lions will be hoping for better news about Rakestraw's outlook.
USA Today
20-05-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
Ennis Rakestraw's complicated fit in a crowded Lions secondary gets some clarity
Ennis Rakestraw's complicated fit in a crowded Lions secondary gets some clarity The Detroit Lions defense returns nearly everyone from the beginning of the 2024 season to kick off the 2025 training camp. For a young player like Ennis Rakestraw trying to find his role, that doesn't leave a lot of room for more snaps. Rakestraw barely saw the field as a rookie in 2024. A second-round cornerback from Missouri, Rakestraw played just 46 snaps across six games, none after Week 11. Part of the issue was Rakestraw's balky health status. He missed time in the summer with sports hernia surgery, then also struggled through an ankle injury and another hamstring problem — an issue that has dogged the lanky Rakestraw for years — that landed the promising prospect on injured reserve. But injuries weren't the only impediment for Rakestraw as a rookie. Rakestraw spent his first training camp bouncing between playing outside cornerback and working in the slot. There were days when he took reps in both spots, though primarily inside. That carried into the season, where his 46 in-game reps were nearly evenly divided between nickel and outside. Infrequent practicing with no set position isn't an easy way to get acclimated to the NFL. To that end, the Lions are changing the approach with Rakestraw for his second season. Detroit DB coach Deshea Townsend says that the plan is to keep Rakestraw as an outside cornerback in 2025. 'In this league, you can only travel with so many,' Townsend said during his recent media session. 'Right now, we're going to let (Rakestraw) focus on outside, let him go compete out there. Amik (Robertson) has done a really good job (inside). We have Avonte (Maddox), who is another positional flex type of person. I think that will help (Rakestraw), as well." Robertson seized the nickel role in his first year in Detroit after struggling inside earlier in his NFL career. Maddox, who currently projects as the top reserve free safety as well as Robertson's primary backup in the slot, has years of experience in the flex role. The reality is, there aren't reps there for Rakestraw to learn on the fly for a Super Bowl contender after he played over 80 percent of his college snaps outside. The depth at outside CB means Rakestraw doesn't have a clear path to playing time in that spot, either. Newcomer D.J. Reed slides into Carlton Davis' starting role opposite 2024 first-rounder Terrion Arnold. Those spots do not appear open for challenge from below. Vet Rock Ya-Sin, who has also started in the slot in his NFL career, adds depth to a group that also kept speedy Khalil Dorsey and 6-foot-2 Stantley Thomas-Oliver, who has considerable special teams experience during his Panthers time before a late-season cup of coffee with Detroit last year. A healthy and confident Rakestraw can create a good, and certainly ironic after last season, problem for the Lions: too many good cornerbacks. He'll need to prove he can stay on the practice field and make a bigger impact on the outside and on special teams in his second season. More: The Ennis Rakestraw selection forces a complicated reaction
