Lions DL Da’Shawn Hand placed on IR for 5th time in 4 years

This could be the end of Hand’s Lions career.

Da’Shawn Hand’s Detroit Lions career could possibly be over. On Tuesday, the team announced that Hand has been placed on injured reserve for the second time this season, after leaving Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Browns with a groin injury. Offensive lineman Tommy Kraemer was signed from the practice squad to the active roster in a corresponding move.

Hand missed the first seven games of the season with a groin injury suffered during training camp. He would play eight snaps in his return to the lineup before jumping to 68 snaps out of the bye week. Unfortunately, he would last just 12 snaps on Sunday before succumbing to the groin injury.

This is now the fifth time Hand has been placed on injured reserve in his four years in the NFL. After being drafted by the Lions in the fourth round in 2018, Hand has played in just 29 games in his professional career, while Thursday will mark the 30th game he will miss due to injury.

Being that this is the final year of his contract, there’s a good chance the Lions have seen the last of Hand in a Honolulu Blue jersey.

In a corresponding move, the Lions signed rookie guard Tommy Kraemer from the practice squad. Last week, Kraemer was elevated to the active roster and ended up playing 33 snaps when starting right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai suffered a concussion early in the game. With Vaitai still in concussion protocol, Kraemer is likely to make his first career start on Thursday against the Bears.

Head coach Dan Campbell liked what he saw of Kraemer last week against the Browns.

“I thought he did some good things,” coach Dan Campbell said of Kraemer filling in last game. “He didn’t bat an eye. We liked what we saw. We like Kraemer, he’s kinda a tough, gritty guy, and he’s smart, and he’s growing. We’ve been giving him center reps in practice, so he’s been guard and center, and he’s just a good quality dude. He comes to work, puts it in, and you like him, he’s tough.”