Lions Secondary Suffers Another Potential Blow Ahead Of Week 7 vs. Bucs

The Lions’ secondary has already been up against it in recent weeks with several multi-week injuries to key players. And now, they could be without another big-time playmaker in their secondary when Baker Mayfield and the Bucs head to Detroit for Monday Night Football in Week 7.

The NFL announced Monday that it has suspended Detroit defensive back Brian Branch, one of the most versatile defenders in the game, for one game following his actions after the Lions’ 30-17 loss to the Chiefs on Sunday night in Kansas City.

As the clock was winding down at the end of the game, Branch snubbed a handshake from Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes and went on to give wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster a pop to the face, which started a brief brawl before the two sides separated.

In a statement, NFL Vice President of Football Operations Jon Runyan called Branch’s actions “entirely unwarranted” and said they “posed a serious risk of injury and clearly violated the standards of conduct and sportsmanship expected of NFL players. Runyan went on to say Branch’s conduct “has no place in our game.

As ESPN’s Adam Schefter pointed out, the NFL’s CBA allows Branch to appeal the suspension handed down from the league. Either Derrick Brooks, Ramon Foster or Jordy Nelson will hear and decide upon a potential appeal if Branch opts to submit one. It remains to be seen whether he will, though. Of note, Branch has already been fined on multiple occasions this season, so that could be something that’s taken into account if he does file an appeal.

After Sunday night’s game, Branch start to explain his actions before cutting himself off and admitting that he shouldn’t have done it.

“I did a little childish thing, but I’m tired of people doing stuff in between the play and refs don’t catch it,” he said. “They be trying to bully me out there and I don’t – I shouldn’t have did it. It was childish.”

Lions head coach Dan Campbell had a stronger reaction to the lapse in judgment by his star defender.

“I love Brian Branch, but what he did was inexcusable,” Campbell said. “It’s not going to be accepted here. It’s not what we do. I apologize to coach (Andy) Reid and the Chiefs and Schuster. That’s not OK. That’s not what we do here, and it’s not going to be OK. He knows it, our team knows it. That’s not what we do.”

Branch has had some success against the Bucs in the past. In the playoff meeting two seasons ago, he racked up nine tackles (eight solo) and had two tackles for loss and a quarterback hit in the Lions’ 31-23 win. And while the Bucs won a rematch in Week 2 of the 2024 season, he did have six tackles (five solo) and two passes defensed, including an interception of Baker Mayfield.

So far this season, Branch has followed up on his 2024 Pro Bowl season nicely, totaling 33 tackles (23 solo), four tackles for loss, a sack, a forced fumble and five passes defensed.

Lions Secondary Is Already Without Other Key Players, Too

The possibility of being without Brian Branch for Monday night’s game against the Bucs is another blow to a Lions secondary that has already dealt with its fair share of them in recent weeks.

Just last Monday, head coach Dan Campbell confirmed in his press conference that cornerbacks Terrion Arnold, D.J. Reed and Khalil Dorsey will be out indefinitely. Reed and Dorsey are both on injured reserve, and Campbell said Arnold could be out for “a while.”

With that being said, Adam Schefter did report the following day that a second opinion on Arnold’s shoulder injury revealed that it may not be as bad as originally thought and could return “sooner than expected.” Whether he could be back as soon as Week 7 is unclear, but it would be a but of a surprise given the original prognosis.

The Lions also played their Week 6 game against the Chiefs without cornerback Avonte Maddox, who entered the weekend with a “questionable” designation only to miss out due to a hamstring injury.

Of course, as banged up as Detroit is in the secondary and as significant as Branch’s suspension would be, the Bucs come into this Week 7 primetime matchup with plenty of injury questions themselves, especially at wide receiver. While Tampa Bay is hoping to have Mike Evans back in action, it sounds like the team will be without Chris Godwin Jr. and potentially Emeka Egbuka depending on the results of his Tuesday MRI.

The Bucs getting Evans back would be a huge boost to the receiving corps, obviously. But this is also a deep receiver room that is the envy of the league, so Evans or no Evans, the likes of Sterling Shepard, Tez Johnson, Kameron Johnson and possibly Ryan Miller could be tasked with taking advantage of the Lions’ short-handed secondary.

Heading into Monday night, the Bucs have the seventh-best passing game in the league based on yards per game, and Baker Mayfield is playing at an MVP level through six games with 1,539 yards and 12 touchdowns to one interception on 66.2% passing.

We’ll know more about the injury statuses for both the Lions secondary and Bucs receiving corps as the teams return to practice this week. Kickoff for next Monday night’s game between 5-1 Tampa Bay and 4-2 Detroit is set for 7:00 p.m.