Pride of Detroit
On Monday afternoon, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell offered a bleak update on rookie defensive end Ahmed Hassanein.
“Ahmed is going to be down for a while,” Campbell said. “He’s got a pec (injury).”
When asked to clarify if it could be a season-ending injury, Campbell didn’t rule it out.
However, later that evening, Hassanein himself went to Instagram with a more optimistic update. In a reel with a lengthy caption, Hassanein revealed that his injury will not require surgery.
“God is good, I’m blessed,” Hassanein wrote. “I want to thank everybody that asked about me. I’m so grateful and blessed no surgery is needed just time to heal. God is good all the time. I may not understand but I truly trust the Lord timing and in everything. I will be back. Hungrier, than I ever been. All glory to Jesus in everything.”
It’s still unclear how much time Hassanein is expected to miss. If the Lions were to place him on injured reserve right away—which they haven’t yet—his season would be over. The Lions could also place Hassanein on IR next Tuesday on roster cutdown day, which would make him eligible to return after sitting out at least four games into the season.
Hassanein was the Lions’ sixth-round pick back in April. He was expected to be depth behind Aidan Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Al-Quadin Muhammad, and Josh Paschal (when he returns from injury). If Hassanein misses enough time to warrant a trip on injured reserve, the likes of Nate Lynn, Isaac Ukwu, and Mitchell Agude may be competing for one of the final spots on the 53-man roster.
