Lions Will Likely Play Panthers without Three Starters on Offense

Read more on the injuries to three offensive starters for the Detroit Lions

The Detroit Lions could be without three starters on offense when they go on the road to take on the Carolina Panthers this Sunday in Week 11 NFL action.

Rookie running back D'Andre Swift along with wide receivers Kenny Golladay and Danny Amendola have missed practice the past two days.

Lions head coach Matt Patricia remained mum on when Swift suffered his injury, and expressed it would be "difficult" for the rookie running back to play on Sunday.

"It makes it difficult. We'll see what the rest of today looks like and then, obviously, put all that (information) into play when we put our injury report out. But, it is difficult," Patricia said Friday morning during a video conference with Detroit media.

Matthew Stafford back out here for practice, but no Kenny Golladay, D’Andre Swift or Danny Amendola

— kyle meinke (@kmeinke) November 20, 2020

Detroit will likely turn to veteran running back Adrian Peterson and third-year pro Kerryon Johnson to shoulder the bulk of the carries. 

Recall, running back Jonathan Williams is also on Detroit's roster.

"We have great players in that position and confidence in all those guys. With Adrian, with Kerryon and (Jonathan Williams), we're good," Patricia said. "We'll just keep rolling with those guys, too, if they're out there. And, if Swift is out there, great. I think that's really just part of the mentality of making sure you have enough depth at the running back position, that you feel comfortable with."

Additionally, Detroit's star wideout in Golladay is now likely to miss his third consecutive game with a hip injury.

The coaching staff and medical team are likely wanting to take it easier with Golladay, knowing the team plays Houston on Thanksgiving just four days after playing Carolina. 

"Certainly, we know there’s always the situations where you haven’t done stuff for a while, and you go out and you do something and then next day, you just try to be smart. I would say, certainly for us, we’re very conscious of the fact that we have two games here back-to-back, in close proximity of a timeline, that we’re just trying to put all that into the equation here, as we work through it," Patricia explained Thursday.

More from SI All Lions:

SI NFL Team Publishers Week 11 Predictions

Poll: Can the Lions Count on Kerryon Johnson against Carolina

5 Free Agents Lions Should Target in Offseason

Kelly Stafford Struggles Living in 'Dictatorship That We Call Michigan'

4 Players That Must Step Up to Aid Matthew Stafford

Get the latest Detroit Lions news by joining our community. Click "Follow" at the top right of our SI All Lions page. Mobile users click the notification bell. Be sure to follow us on Twitter @DetroitPodcast.