Poor Hendon Hooker. A toothache is no joke, but when you’re talking about NFL players, it’s not exactly something you’d expect to see pop up on an injury report. Ahead of the Detroit Lions’ showdown with the San Francisco 49ers on Championship Sunday, the rookie third-round pick out of Tennessee has his availability in question due to the, ahem, “injury.”
I can only hope he’ll be fine, RapSheet. We’d have a crisis on our hands if not.
A more relevant injury Detroit is dealing with that also ties into Hooker is the loss of left guard Jonah Jackson to a knee injury. The Lions have arguably the NFL’s best offensive line, and Jackson is no small part of that typical starting five. Keeping a statuesque pocket quarterback like Jared Goff clean is of paramount importance for this potent Detroit offense. Losing a key piece like Jackson is far from ideal with one win to go before the Super Bowl.
Third-year former UDFA Kayode Awosika is the next man up behind Jackson. Ruh-Roh, Raggy.
Given that Goff is an iron man whose resilience can’t really be questioned, I just hope he gets through this game healthy and that the pass protection holds up. If not, the Lions would be forced to turn to either Teddy Bridgewater or, God forbid, Hooker with his cracked pulled tooth situation ailing him.
Teddy Two Gloves is checked the f*ck out and ready to roll into retirement once this playoff run ends. Hooker has been recovering from a legit serious injury (torn ACL) all year long. Just when you thought he might be worthy of an elevation to QB2, this tooth problem happens. Tough break. I’m obviously kidding about all that, because of course Teddy would be the guy to go in if Goff went down. I really hope he doesn’t. Jared Goff is an American hero and a great representative for the Motor City.
But I mean…a tooth on an injury report? Name me one other time you’ve seen that in the NFL, never mind Major League Baseball or some other not-so-contact-heavy professional sport. You can’t. BUT DALLAS ROBINSON CAN (How? How do you have this information this ready?).
No surprise that we’re getting a lot of very funny reactions to Hendon Hooker’s plight, because that’s the way of the world. And I only share these, pass them along and bask in their glory because of Ian Rapoport’s report that Hooker will be fine.
Surprised I haven’t seen a Dumb and Dumber reference. Alas. Sorry, Hendon. I won’t do you like that. Respect to the final two seasons you put up at Tennessee, with a combined 58 TD passes to only five interceptions.
Given how well the Lions have drafted since GM Brad Holmes took over, it won’t surprise me at all if Detroit moves off Goff in a couple years and Hooker turns out to be, like, the second coming of Jordan Love in the NFC North.
Had Hooker not blown out his knee to end his college career, there’s an outside chance he could’ve gone in the first round. Holmes recognized that Hooker would need to effectively redshirt as an NFL rookie, and that Goff wasn’t going anywhere for the foreseeable future. Once Detroit offensive coordinator Ben Johnson presumably gets poached for either the Commanders or Seahawks head coaching vacancy, we’ll have a better idea of what Goff’s trajectory looks like with the Lions.
Alrighty then. Drink in some Hendon Hooker highlights and pray for his teeth to feel better.
