Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone suffered a broken forearm during a Week 11 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was a limited participant in practice over the final two sessions of the week, but he’s expected to see action Sunday night against the Minnesota Vikings.
Alex Anzalone Expected To Suit Up for Lions Against Vikings Sunday Night
Anzalone missed the last six weeks with a gruesome injury he sustained against the Jaguars. He took to social media Sunday to display what the injury looked like — it was not a picture for the easily queasy.
Alex Anzalone posted this to his Instagram story. The Lions linebacker broke his forearm in November pic.twitter.com/ohlr3rLMF8
— Brad Galli (@BradGalli) January 5, 2025
The Lions have had a plethora of injuries on the defensive side of the football this season, so they are fortunate to get Anzalone back right before the playoffs. He will get to shake off some rust versus the Vikings on Sunday night.
Linebacker Jack Campbell led the linebacking corps in Anzalone’s absence, with 125 tackles, five tackles for loss, five pass deflections, and four quarterback hits.
Anzalone will play with a carbon-fiber cast that he practiced with as a protective measure. Before going down in Week 11, Anzalone recorded 56 combined tackles, seven tackles for loss, four quarterback hits, and four pass deflections.
“It’s exciting,” Anzalone said Thursday. “I think it’s an exciting time to be a Detroit Lion. These are the moments that you really dream about and as a player it doesn’t get any better than this. I know Dan (Campbell) alluded to that, but this is all you could ask for. An in-division game for the division championship, for the No. 1 seed, and it’s going to be fun to see.”
The doctors originally thought Anzalone would miss eight weeks, but he is running a week ahead of schedule. Originally, Anzalone met with the doctors and Campbell this week. They made a collective decision it would be better to give it an extra week to heal, but Anzalone is going to return to the field.
The Lions have five defensive players on injured reserve and needed to get Anzalone back. Aidan Hutchinson, Alim McNeill, Marcus Davenport, Derrick Barnes, and Carlton Davis missed time and the Lions needed to get some additional help at the linebacker position.
Detroit also activated punt returner/receiver Kalif Raymond from injured reserve and is expected to play Sunday night against Minnesota.