Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell delivered tough injury news on Monday, noting that veteran safety Avonte Maddox will miss the rest of the 2026 season after suffering a foot injury on Thursday night that will require surgery.
“That hurts a little bit,” Campbell said. “Maddox is a good player for us. Good solid football player, headsy. I hate that for him. But that’s the hand that we’re dealt, and we move forward.”
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Maddox was starting for the Lions at safety for the first two weeks of the season while Kerby Joseph and Brian Branch remain on the Physically Unable to Perform list. Both Joseph and Branch are eligible to return to practice this week, Campbell noted that both still need more time.
That leaves the Lions in a bit of a precarious spot at safety moving forward. Detroit has Chuck Clark and Thomas Harper capable of stepping in and starting, but the depth behind that only currently includes Christian Izien—who has been playing more nickel lately.
The Lions have reportedly been in search for some veteran safety help on the free agent market, and held a workout on Monday morning that reportedly included Jordan Fuller, Jalen Mills, and Mike Edwards, among others. Campbell noted that the search won’t just be limited to available veterans, either.
“We had a workout this morning just looking for a veteran guy, and we’re looking for some of these safeties that are on other teams right now that are promising young players that we could potentially poach and bring in and let them compete,” Campbell said. “Right now, we’ve got Chuck and Izzy and Harper, but we need to bring in some fresh players and get a look at them.”
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Beyond just being shorthanded at safety, the Lions also clearly need to shake up their secondary after two rough defensive performances to start the season. Campbell certainly hinted that some depth chart reorganization could be on the horizon.
“We’re going to do a couple of things defensively, we’re going to move some guys around, we’re going to give some guys some more opportunities to play here and shake it up a little bit,” Campbell said. “And because they’ve earned that. We’ve got some guys in here that have earned some play time that they deserve a chance to do more for us.”
Campbell was asked specifically about two players who have started the season on the inactive list: defensive end Ahmed Hassanein and cornerback Ennis Rakestraw. The Lions coach didn’t exactly sound eager about throwing them into the lineup, but didn’t count it out either.
“Right now I’m open to everything,” Campbell said. “I’m open and we’re looking at everything. So, yeah, there’s always a chance.”
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