Detroit Lions receive injury update on star player ahead of home showdown for NFC’s No. 1 seed

DETROIT – The Detroit Lions received some great injury news for one of their star players ahead of their week 18 battle against the Minnesota Vikings.

According to ESPN Senior NFL Insider Adam Schefter, Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone, who hasn’t played since breaking his forearm in their Week 11 boat race of the Jacksonville Jaguars, was listed as a limited participant in Wednesday’s (Jan. 1) practice.

Schefter says Anzalone has a realistic chance to play on NBC during Sunday Night Football.

Anzalone suffered the injury on Sunday (Nov. 17) at the 2:32 second mark in the second quarter when he got his arm trapped between the body of Jags running back Travis Etienne Jr. and Lions and hard-hitting safety Brian Branch.

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The 6′3″ 238-pound linebacker was on the ground for a bit before getting helped off the field by a member of the Lions staff.

The eight-year Gator from Florida was walking off the field, holding his left arm to his side so he could tell teammates it was his arm as he headed to the locker room.

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At the time of the injury, head coach Dan Campbell said that Anzalone would be out 6-8 weeks, which has lined up with his return to practice ahead of the “Brawl for it all” against their divisional foe.

“He’ll be out there running around today, so we’ll see how he does,” said Campbell. “Tomorrow’s going to be a really big day for us to see where he’s at.”

His being potentially reinserted into the depleted defense would be a huge plus as, in total, Detroit had over 20 players on injured reserve, including six starters.