Tight End · Detroit Lions

Sam LaPorta

No. 87 · 4th season

Nine games, a back, and now Dan Campbell says he's trending right

Last season ended early for Sam LaPorta. A back problem put him on injured reserve in mid-November, and that was that — nine games played, a full season lost to something you can't see on the field but feel every time you try to bend, cut, or block.

LaPorta is a tight end for the Detroit Lions, a position that demands the body do a little of everything: catch, block, run routes, absorb contact. A healthy back is not optional.

Now it's the lead-up to training camp, and Lions head coach Dan Campbell said LaPorta is trending the right way. That's careful language — not a clearance, not a guarantee — but from a coach who doesn't tend to oversell, it means something.

For LaPorta, the work now is less about proving he belongs and more about proving the back is done being a story. Campbell seems to think it might be.

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