Detroit Lions targeting training camp return for TE Sam LaPorta

Sam LaPorta will miss most of the offseason while recovering from back surgery, but Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said he hopes the tight end can return to the field sometime next summer.

“I feel like next year, that’s certainly an off the table, early in the year,” Campbell said. “You’d like to believe training camp we’ll get him, but you’re talking about a back. And he’s improving but yet, he’s not completely healed.”

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LaPorta underwent back surgery in mid-November after injuring his back in a Nov. 9 win over the Washington Commanders.

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The third-year tight end ranked second on the Lions in receiving yards (489) and catches (40) at the time of his injury, and the offense slumped in his absence.

The Lions averaged 31.4 points in the nine games before LaPorta’s injury and have averaged 25.6 points in the seven since. They’ve gone 2-5 without LaPorta in the lineup and were eliminated from playoff contention last week.

“When you start talking about a neck or a back or some of those things, depending on a knee, what kind of knee it is, or what it looks like, those can be concerning, just cause you don’t know,” Campbell said. “You don’t know exactly what’s going to come out of that. How do they recover.

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“So that’s always going to kind of be back there a little bit until he is fully healed or he’s not quite there. But I’d like to believe he’s got – he’ll have a lot of time to heal here, he’s rehabbing every day. Certainly, feels better after the surgery than he did right before, so that’s a positive, right? Took a lot of stress off that nerve, so we’ll see.”

A second-round pick out of Iowa in 2023, LaPorta is extension-eligible for the first time this offseason, though the Lions now have reason to wait to sign him to a long-term deal.

The Lions have re-signed most of their top young talent – including Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown, Alim McNeill, Aidan Hutchinson, Jameson Williams and Derrick Barnes – from Brad Holmes’ first two drafts as general manager and are expected to work on extensions for Jahmyr Gibbs and Jack Campbell this offseason.

Like LaPorta, safety Brian Branch, another second-round pick from 2023, is returning from a serious season-ending injury, a torn Achilles tendon.

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Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Sam LaPorta return from surgery? Detroit Lions target training camp