The Lions played for and paid for the win in Sunday's season finale against the Vikings.
While they beat the Vikings 30-20 to keep alive their slim chances of grabbing the No. 2 seed in the NFC, they lost Pro Bowl tight end Sam LaPorta to a knee injury late in the first half. LaPorta is likely to miss the Lions' playoff opener next week.
"The best way I can put it is, it’s not as bad as it looked, but it’s not good news," Dan Campbell said after the game. "It’s kind of in this, we’ll know more tomorrow. But I know it looked awful. It’s not as bad as that, but it doesn’t mean that it looks good in the immediate here to have him for a game."
LaPorta appeared to hyperextend his left knee while getting tackled after making a catch across the middle. An MRI revealed a bone bruise, according to the NFL Network.
Noted former NFL physician David Chao suggested that LaPorta won't need surgery but could miss the duration of the playoffs, which would be a huge blow to the Lions. He's been their most consistent pass catcher all season after Amon-Ra St. Brown.
Campbell said that receiver and punt returner Kalif Raymond is in the same boat as LaPorta after injuring his knee in the second half.
On the bright side for the Lions, St. Brown and rookie defensive back Brian Branch both avoided serious injuries after St. Brown took a knee to the ribs from a Vikings defensive tackle and Branch briefly left the game with a wrist injury.
Campbell said St. Brown is "good," and St. Brown confirmed after catching seven passes for 144 yards and a touchdown, "Yeah, I'm solid." On Branch, Campbell said, "I think he’s good, I know he came off with it and they put another brace on it, but as far as I know, he’s good. That wasn’t somebody that (the doctors) brought up to me (after the game), so we should be good."