Saivion Smith Injury Update is Big Relief After Week 5 Scare

Updated: Sep 10, 5:00pm UTC

Football is a physically demanding sport and most players suffer an injury at some point in their career. Not many suffer an injury as scary as Saivion Smith's in Week 5, though. He had to be taken to the hospital via ambulance, but the latest update comes as a big relief for the Detroit Lions cornerback.

Saivion Smith Injury Update

The original worry was that Smith suffered a neck injury after collapsing on the field when he made contact with an opposing player on the New England Patriots. However, he underwent tests that confirmed that was not the case. Instead, Smith is dealing with a concussion and will need to pass the NFL protocol before suiting up again.

While concussions are still serious, it's been one positive update after another for Smith. Head coach Dan Campbell told reporters following Detroit's loss that Smith had movement in all of his extremities and the hope was that he could fly home on the team plane, which he was able to do.

Week 5 was Smith's season debut after he was called up from the practice squad as an unproven depth option in the secondary. The undrafted free agent has tallied 5 tackles in 10 career games (2 starts) since debuting in 2020.

The Lions are heading into their bye in Week 6, which gives Smith two weeks to recover and attempt to pass protocol in time to play against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 7. That game is slated for a 1 p.m. ET kickoff on Oct. 23. After starting 1-4, Detroit's playoff odds stand at +640 on FanDuel Sportsbook's NFL odds.

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