The Detroit Lions may have to shuffle their offensive line Thursday night in Buffalo.

The good news is Dan Campbell does not believe Christian Mahogany’s injury will become a long-term problem.

Mahogany left Detroit’s 31-30 overtime victory over the New Orleans Saints after suffering what was initially announced as a knee injury. By Monday, the Lions were listing him with a hip injury, and he was estimated as a non-participant on the team’s initial Week 2 practice report. Detroit held only a walkthrough, so the designation was an estimation.

Campbell offered more context Monday and sounded optimistic about the bigger picture, even if Thursday Night Football may arrive too quickly.

“Mahogany got that little injury here. I don’t think this is something serious long term, but it could be tough to get him ready for Thursday.”

That is a considerably better outcome than Detroit feared when Mahogany initially went down.

It also leaves the Lions with a very immediate problem.

Christian Mahogany Could Have Trouble Making Short Turnaround

Detroit does not have a normal recovery week.

The Lions play the Buffalo Bills on Thursday at 8:15 p.m. ET, only four days after playing more than four quarters against New Orleans. The matchup will also open Buffalo’s new Highmark Stadium.

Mahogany being unable to play would likely put Ben Bartch back into the starting lineup. Bartch replaced Mahogany against the Saints and handled the overwhelming majority of the remaining snaps at left guard.

That situation is particularly interesting because the two players had spent much of the summer competing for the position. Campbell made clear months ago that Mahogany was not simply being handed the job, something we detailed when Detroit’s left guard competition first began taking shape.

Bartch may now get another opportunity because of circumstances rather than competition.

And Mahogany is not Detroit’s only offensive-line concern. Rookie right tackle Blake Miller was also listed as an estimated non-participant Monday because of a knee injury, while center Juice Scruggs was limited. As we noted when examining Detroit’s risky offensive-line depth entering Week 1, the Lions were already operating without much room for injuries along the interior.

That room just got smaller.

Campbell Confident Lions Built Enough Depth

Campbell does not sound panicked.

Quite the opposite.

Detroit spent the offseason rebuilding an offensive line that needed more flexibility and competition, adding players such as Scruggs, Bartch and others while preparing for significant changes across the unit. The Lions entered training camp with considerably more veteran depth than they had at several points last season.

Campbell believes those decisions are about to pay off.

“We feel like we’ve got enough depth here to get through this.”

He doubled down on that confidence.

“We’ll be good. That’s why we made the moves that we made in the offseason.”

Now Detroit gets to test that theory much earlier than anyone would have preferred.

Mahogany’s injury does not sound like something the Lions expect to linger for months. That is the most important part of Campbell’s update.

But Thursday is another matter.

Buffalo does not particularly care that Detroit has only four days to recover. Neither does Josh Allen.

If Mahogany cannot go, the Lions will need the offensive-line depth Campbell keeps talking about to prove him right immediately.