On Friday night, the Detroit Lions played their final preseason game as they fell to the Indianapolis Colts by a score of 27-17.
But the Lions lost more than just the game as quarterback Tim Boyle injured the thumb on his throwing hand during the opening drive against the Colts. The play happened when Boyle appeared to hit his throwing hand on the helmet of Colts defensive end Kemoko Turay.
Somehow, Boyle remained in the game and actually led the Lions on a scoring drive on their next possession before leaving the game for good.
Following the game, Lions head coach Dan Campbell gave an update on Boyle.
Quotes from Detroit Free Press:
“He got his thumb a little bit,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said after the game. “We’ll know a lot more tomorrow, but we may have to prepare for him to be out for a little bit.”
David Blough, who replaced Boyle at quarterback, said Boyle was “gutsy” for doing what he did.
“You guys saw it,” Blough said. “He was dealing with it and had an incredible long drive that resulted in the touchdown pass to Quintez. We knew he was banged up, didn’t know what it was going to be. But that’s always ready to go and pretty awesome drive for him to fight through it and go out there and throw a touchdown pass and big third down conversions on that drive. It was gutsy.”
The Lions must keep Boyle on their initial 53-man roster if they want him to be able to return at all in 2021. But following that, do not be surprised at all if they place him on injured reserve and sign a free agent QB.