{"id":644440,"date":"2026-01-01T01:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-01T01:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/644440\/"},"modified":"2026-01-01T01:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-01T01:53:12","slug":"dan-campbell-lays-out-timeline-for-possible-return-of-detroit-lions-te-sam-laporta","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/644440\/","title":{"rendered":"Dan Campbell lays out timeline for possible return of Detroit Lions TE Sam LaPorta"},"content":{"rendered":"

Allen Park \u2014 Had the Detroit Lions<\/a> reached the playoffs this season, Sam LaPorta would not have been ready to return to action.<\/p>\n

But the team hopes to have its star tight end back by training camp.<\/p>\n

LaPorta, who last played against the Washington Commanders on Nov. 9, underwent a procedure on his back later that same month. At the time of the procedure, coach Dan Campbell said the Lions<\/a> “would be fortunate” if LaPorta returned at any point in 2025. Campbell added that the procedure “went really well, long term.”<\/p>\n

Asked for an update Wednesday, Campbell said LaPorta is “improving, but yet he\u2019s not completely healed.”<\/p>\n

“He\u2019s getting better,” Campbell said. “It wouldn\u2019t have been one of those things where you get in the playoffs (and think), ‘Did he have a chance to play?’ No, it wouldn\u2019t be that. But I feel like next year, that certainly isn\u2019t off the table, early in the year. You\u2019d like to believe training camp (is when) we\u2019ll get him. But you\u2019re talking about a back.”<\/p>\n

Added Campbell: “Anytime when you start talking about a neck or a back or some of those things … those can be concerning, just because you don\u2019t know. You don\u2019t know exactly what\u2019s going to come out of that. How do they recover? So, that\u2019s always going to kind of be back there (in your mind) a little bit until either he is fully healed or he\u2019s not quite there. But I\u2019d like to believe he\u2019ll have a lot of time to heal here (in the offseason). He\u2019s rehabbing every day. Certainly, it feels better after the surgery than he did right before, so that\u2019s a positive.<\/p>\n

“Took a lot of stress off that nerve, so we\u2019ll see.”<\/p>\n

LaPorta was on pace for a career season before getting hurt, averaging 54.3 yards over nine appearances. At the time of his injury, only Amon-Ra St. Brown and Jameson Williams\u00a0had more receiving yards. LaPorta is under contract through the 2026 season. He’s eligible for an extension for the first time when the new league year begins in March.<\/p>\n

The Lions lost multiple tight ends to injury this season, including LaPorta and top backup Brock Wright (trachea). Wright got hurt in a win over the New York Giants on Nov. 23 and was placed on injured reserve Dec. 4. Shane Zylstra has returned from his own stint on injured reserve, but he missed multiple weeks earlier this season.<\/p>\n

“Tight ends are a big part of what we do. Certainly, (in) the run game, but the pass game, as well. So, when you lose your top two guys, it becomes a little harder, for sure,” Campbell said. “It\u2019s affected us. Now, that being said, it\u2019s good to get Zylstra back. He\u2019s a pro, he\u2019s a vet, can do a lot of jobs. And then (Anthony Firkser), as well. Firkser \u2014 he\u2019s got some versatility, too. So, it\u2019s been good to have those two guys.”<\/p>\n

With LaPorta in the lineup, the Lions averaged 372.4 yards and 31.4 points. Without him, they averaged 365.6 yards and 25.6 points.<\/p>\n

Practice report<\/p>\n

Nine players were not practicing during the portion of Wednesday’s session open to reporters, including offensive linemen Penei Sewell, Christian Mahogany, Kayode Awosika, Trystan Colon and Devin Cochran.<\/p>\n

Also not participating: Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alex Anzalone, Alim McNeill and Thomas Harper.<\/p>\n

Sewell (ankle), St. Brown (knee\/ankle), McNeill (abdomen), Anzalone (concussion) and Harper (concussion) were all injured against the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas. Colon (wrist) missed the game. Mahogany and Awosika are dealing with illnesses.<\/p>\n

Limited at Wednesday\u2019s practice were Taylor Decker (shoulder\/illness), Giovanni Manu (knee) and Avonte Maddox (back\/illness).<\/p>\n

rsilva@detroitnews.com<\/p>\n

@rich_silva18<\/p>\n

Want to comment on this story? Become a subscriber today. Click here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Allen Park \u2014 Had the Detroit Lions reached the playoffs this season, Sam LaPorta would not have been…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[247,265,13062,4566,6265,33482,1603,3610,2639,20717,4888,25025,427,146,113,2506,33479,7,20842,8787,147,246,88,6,35196,245,264,1064,7472,24439,24454,2764,9,266,2320,25024,24928,855,111,10330,37371],"class_list":["post-644440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","category-detroit-lions","tag-american","tag-american-football","tag-amon-ra","tag-amon-ra-st-brown","tag-anthony","tag-anthony-firkser","tag-breaking","tag-breaking-news-social","tag-brock","tag-brock-wright","tag-brown","tag-colon","tag-commanders","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroitlions","tag-firkser","tag-football","tag-hub","tag-laporta","tag-lions","tag-neutral","tag-news","tag-nfl","tag-nfl-hub","tag-overall","tag-overall-neutral","tag-sam","tag-sam-laporta","tag-shane","tag-shane-zylstra","tag-social","tag-sports","tag-sports-news","tag-st","tag-trystan","tag-trystan-colon","tag-washington","tag-washington-commanders","tag-wright","tag-zylstra"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=644440"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/644440\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=644440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=644440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=644440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}