The Detroit Lions placed wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. on injured reserve Tuesday after he suffered an ankle injury on the final drive Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.
It’s the second straight season he ended his year on IR.
Jones hurt the ankle planting his foot on the last drive and then finished the game. He played every snap Sunday during the Lions’ 20-7 loss. After the game he went to get examined and rode on a cart from there to the locker room. He was also the last Lions player out of the locker room Sunday and did not speak with the media.
“His foot kind of got stuck in the ground, pretty tough look for him,” Lions coach Matt Patricia said. “He actually got up and got back in his stance because he knew how important it was for us to get lined up and not have an injury in that situation.
“To his credit, he’s a tough guy. He did everything he could and it just kind of happened at the end of the game.”
Patricia said he didn’t know if Jones would need surgery on the ankle, but that when Patricia saw Jones hurt the ankle live, he said, “Oh no,” and knew he would at least be hurting.
The 29-year-old Jones had 62 catches this season for 779 yards and nine touchdowns. With Jones out of the lineup, Detroit will focus even more on Kenny Golladay, Danny Amendola and Chris Lacy. The Lions also have three receivers on the practice squad: Tom Kennedy, Travis Fulgham and Victor Bolden.
“He’s a great part of our team,” Patricia said. “Just someone that has had a great year, worked really hard. He’s been consistent all year. I think he’s improved this year, drastically. Him just being every single day in the building the same, every single day in the building trying to get better.
“He just has great energy about him and certainly was just really going in a great direction.” The Lions signed defensive tackle Frank Herron from Miami’s practice squad to replace Jones on the roster.