The Lions suffered a major injury in Monday’s practice session. Tight end Shane Zylsta was lost for the season with a serious, and eminently preventable, knee injury in the training camp practice.
Zylstra went down when cornerback Khalil Dorsey dived low at his legs immediately after Zylstra had leaped to catch a swing pass. The tight end screamed in pain immediately.
On Wednesday, Lions head coach Dan Campbell wanted to focus on Dorsey’s hit that sent Zylstra to the waiver wire with an injury designation. Campbell, never one to hide his emotions, was not happy.
“This one happens and so – harsh with him, and honestly it shouldn’t have happened. No, we’re not OK with that, and it’s been addressed,” Campbell said pointedly. “These things happen. The physicality of the game, the pads, but that was preventable. That’s not what we do.”
Campbell noted that Dorsey is upset about causing the season-ending injury to a teammate. The lesson was a tough one to learn for the entire team.
“Believe me, Khalil feels awful too. We get that, but we have to take care of each other,” Campbell said. “We still have to be physical, we have to work each, we have to compete, but we still have to take care of each other. So that was – we talked about it, and we move on.”
