Darius Slay was one of the best cornerbacks in football last season for the Detroit Lions. He had eight interceptions, which tied for the league lead and two of them came at the expense of Mitch Trubisky. So the Chicago Bears are well aware of his talents. Facing him is always a challenge because there isn’t a receiver he can’t cover.
Well, the Bears got themselves some welcome news on Friday. Slay has been dealing with a knee injury for the past couple of weeks. He played through it last week against the Minnesota Vikings and had an interception in the game. However, it became apparent afterward that he aggravated it. He failed to practice for three straight days. This led the Lions to make a difficult decision.
The Lions have ruled out both Darius Slay and TJ Lang for Sunday vs. the Bears
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) November 9, 2018
Not having Slay means the Lions will enter Sunday with three healthy cornerbacks. One of them, Deshawn Shead who will be taking over the starting role in his absence, not only has a long injury history of his own but also got cut by the team earlier in the year before being brought back for depth help.
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AMARI COOPER vs. DESHAWN SHEAD during #Lions and #Raiders joint practice today pic.twitter.com/iOTw4G27EG
— PirateLife Football (@PirateLifeNFL) August 9, 2018
Lions may not have the manpower to handle Chicago Bears receivers
If this were a few years ago, Shead would be considered a favorable replacement for Slay. In 2015 and 2016, quarterbacks averaged a modest 87.5 passer rating when throwing his direction. Those days are gone. He’s not only 30-years old but he’s been battling multiple leg injuries since the beginning of 2017. First it was a torn ACL and more recently it was a quad strain.
This isn’t ideal for a player who people always had concerns regarding his speed. Now he’ll have to contend with the likes of Taylor Gabriel on the outside with all his vertical ability. Suffice to say if the Bears can adequately protect Mitch Trubisky on Sunday, it could be a long day for the Lions secondary.
