After missing practice Thursday due to a calf injury he suffered Wednesday, Sam LaPorta was back on the field Friday and is planning to play Sunday against the Buccaneers.
"It’s feeling a lot better," the Lions rookie tight end said after Friday's practice.
Asked if he expects to play Sunday, LaPorta, who leads his position in yards per game, said, "That’s the plan, yeah. That’s the goal." He's officially listed as questionable.
He said the calf "flared up" at practice on Wednesday, "mostly from the game (last week), but it’s football, things happen. We work our bodies pretty hard, but feeling a lot better today."
LaPorta, 22, has taken the NFL by storm, at a position where there's typically a steep learning curve. He credits his teammates and coaches for his early success, with some help from fellow Iowa tight ends around the NFL like George Kittle, T.J. Hockenson and Noah Fant. He trained with Kittle this summer.
"A lot of those guys have helped me progress and acclimate to this level, guys like T.J., George, Noah. Dallas Clark was a huge mentor for me at Iowa and still is. Those guys have helped me a lot. Training with George this offseason was a lot of fun and I learned a lot," LaPorta said.
He said he texts back and forth with Kittle and talks on the phone with Clark every couple weeks. He laughed and said "it was a lot easier to stay in touch with (Clark) at Iowa because he ket showing up. We couldn’t get rid of him."
Clark's advice to LaPorta through five games in the NFL?
"Keep your head down," LaPorta said. "You don’t want to get too high or low."
That shouldn't be a problem for LaPorta, a head-down worker. He said it's "cool to stop and smell the roses, but you can't acknowledge it for that long."
"You’re always preparing for the next thing. Big game or bad game, you watch the tape, analyze how you can get better and move on," he said.
His next game should be Sunday in Tampa.