Lions receive MAJOR injury blow...Pacheco injury timeline revealed

Well, the Lions revealed some major news on the injury front that could have devastating effects, both long-term and short-term with the quick turnaround time as they shuffle off to Buffalo to take on the Bills this coming Thursday night. We're gonna dive into all of those ramifications, that and a whole lot more on this edition of Lions Digest. Hey everybody, yours truly, Captain Lou. I want to take a moment to welcome those of you checking us out for the first time here to Lions Digest. And remind those of you that haven't done it yet, hit that subscribe button. It's free. Help us get to our goal of 1,000 subscribers here on Lions Digest. And also a reminder, Thursday is a big day with the Lions and the Bills. And we're going to have another live preview show, going to be a pregame show this time with the Lions on Lions Digest, seven o'clock Eastern time. We're going to go over all the matchups with the Bills, give our predictions. And of course, yours as well, your reaction, your interaction on the pregame show. What do you think is going to happen in that Bills game? And then afterwards, we're going to have a live postgame show as we'll give you our instant reaction, break down the game, and would love to have your participation in your reaction as well. So a big day for the Lions, and we've got our live pre and postgame show right here on Lions Digest Thursday, starting at seven o'clock Eastern time. All right, it was revealed to us yesterday by the Lions and reported first by Ian Rappaport that Isaiah Pacheco was on the injured list already, underwent back surgery to relieve nerve pressure. Now with that kind of surgery, the expected turnaround time is going to be up to 12 weeks. So the man that Brad Holmes and Dan Campbell signed in the off season to be the new Knuckles, he's not going to be expected back in December. And I know I'm like a lot of you. I don't expect to see him at all in the 2026 season. If we do, it'll be a bonus. So with that being said, it rests on the shoulders of Sean Bakke again, and of course, Jacob Saylors. We knew that and that was the plan in game one, but it was Sean Bakke that got all the reps in the backfield with Jameer Gibbs for the Lions as Saylors was relegated to special team. Head coach Dan Campbell said that he wanted to give Bakke a shot, thinking he was a heavier back, maybe better pass protection, a little more north and south of a runner. Well, the pass protection part, we all saw what happened in that game against the Saints, not very good. So now Dave Burkett of the Detroit Free Press is reporting that Jacob Saylors, according to Dan Campbell, will see some action in the running back room, in the backfield for the Lions against the Bills on Thursday night. I think it's a good choice. Why not give him the opportunity? He was the guy in the preseason. He earned that opportunity, so we'll see what he's got. And I don't know if it's going to be a three-way system with Gibbs or with Gibbs and Bakke and Saylors. But I know one thing, Gibbs 34 touches. Is that going to be sustainable for the whole year? I just don't know. So they've got to get somebody established as that complementary piece to Jameer Gibbs. So with that being said, what would you do? Would you go for an upgrade via pre-agency or a trade? Would you do it right away? Or do you want to wait to see what the Lions still have in Saylors and Bakke? Let us know in the comments. We'll talk about that here on Lions Digest. Well, one of the things that I don't have to worry about or one of the people is Amon Ross St. Brown. And he had a couple of tutties against New Orleans. I think he's going to have another one against Buffalo. That's why I'm going to ride with him and trade yes with our brand new partner here on Lions Digest, that being Kelsey, that he's going to get at least one touchdown receiving here in that game. With Kelsey, remember, you're trading directly against other users, not the traditional sports book. You're buying yes or no contracts on outcomes of sporting events, politics, even the weather, excuse me. So let's take a look at Amon Ross St. Brown. How is it trending? He's trading yes about 44% of the time. So that means if you trade $25 with that yes contract, your return will be $57.20. Why $25? It's simple. If you're interested in trying out Kelsey, use the link in the description and trade $25 with the promo code DigestNFL and get $25 added to your account instantly. The NFL season is underway and all the games trade on Kelsey. All right. Getting back to the situation in the running back room with the news of Isaiah Pacheco being out until at least December. Here are some available free agent running backs. Nick Chubb. I know he said he's retired. We all know professional athletes like to come out of retirement. Just asked Aaron Donald. How about Kareem Hunt? He was in for a tryout earlier this in August with the Lions. Antonio Gibson a little bit younger. Miles Sanders. Of course, he had some success with Philadelphia. And how about Jamal Williams? He's available. We all know what he did for the Lions under Dan Campbell a little bit earlier in his career. So just some thoughts, just some ideas out there for the Lions in the running back room. Because again, you're looking at Jamir Gibbs with this torrid pace of touching the ball, you know, what, about 400 times potentially. And then that's just carries. And then who knows another 80 to 90 reception. So something's got to happen for the Lions in that running back room. So again, devastating news with Isaiah Pacheco. Now on Monday, we also got injury news. The injury report was released. They had a walkthrough practice, did the Lions. And limited participation was Drew Scruggs. He's dealing with a knee twinge rather. It looks like he's going to be pretty good to go. Christian Mahogany. We saw what happened to him rather in that opening quarter for the Lions. He went down with an injury, looks like a hip problem. And it's going to be tough news. The one that really concerns me though is Blake Miller. We'll talk about that in a moment. Now, again, Dan Campbell was asked about the availability of Christian Mahogany first. And he said that, you know, it doesn't look like it's serious long term. But as far as Thursday goes, it doesn't look pretty good for him. So Ben Bartsch will step in. I thought he played all right, except for that inexcusable holding call when they had a first and goal on the one yard line that could have turned the fortunes of the game all around for the Lions. Part of that meltdown really in the fourth quarter for the Lions. Now, when it comes to Blake Miller, this is the one that I'm concerned about more than anything. Mahogany, yeah, I'd love to have him in there. I guess Ben Bartsch to me is a more than a capable replacement for him. But Blake Miller, this one came out of nowhere. I didn't know he got injured on Sunday. He didn't practice at all. Now granted, it's a walkthrough. Dan Campbell on a little bit of damage control also said that it's very likely. And yeah, there's all the reason to think that he could go on Thursday, but not participating. I'm a little bit worried about that. I don't know about you, but we'll have more of an idea Tuesday on the status of Blake Miller. Something definitely we've got to keep an eye on. So again, I'm going to ask you one more time here as far as the running back room goes. With Pacheco's injury news out until at least December, Bakke not exactly setting the world on fire. Would you go after in free agency another running back or maybe try to make a trade? Yes, right away or no. We'll just kind of see what we've got with Bakke and Sailors. Let me know in the comment section. Hey, a quick reminder as well. Again, Thursday night, we've got our live pregame preview show. Whatever you want to call it. Buffalo, we're shuffling off to Buffalo Thursday. So we're going to preview the matchup, give our predictions, and of course, welcome in your live reaction. And then our live postgame show right after the game, Thursday night, our live instant reaction, our thoughts on the game, and of course, yours as well. Join us Thursday. It's going to be a lot of fun, a big day for the Lions. And of course, those of us here on Lions Digest. All right, that's going to do it for now. Thanks everybody for taking time out to be with us. However, you watched us around the world here on Lions Digest. And a reminder for those of you that haven't done it, we invite you to hit the subscribe button. It's free. Help us get to our goal of 1,000 subscribers. I really do appreciate it here on Lions Digest. Until next time, Captain Lou saying keep your heads up, keep your sticks down, keep your feet moving. And as always, keep your minds open. So long.