After their last-second win over the Cowboys on Sunday, the Lions said they feared wide receiver Ryan Broyles had been lost for the season to a torn Achilles.
Coach Jim Schwartz confirmed that diagnosis during his press conference on Monday, which means that Broyles has now seen each of the last three seasons end early because of injury. The first two injuries were torn ACLs, one in each knee, and now he’ll spend another offseason rehabbing furiously in order to be ready to resume his career.
Broyles’ loss leaves the Lions very short on wide receivers not named Calvin Johnson. Given Johnson’s productivity, things could be worse but the team will need to find some other options beyond Kris Durham in the coming weeks.
Nate Burleson may be an option at some point, but Schwartz said they won’t be tearing Burleson and his broken arm away from his free pizza any earlier than planned because of Broyles’ injury. They could make a trade before Tuesday’s deadline and they have a bye week to use to get any new arrival acquainted with the offense, so they may be a team to watch over the next 24 hours.