Detroit Lions star Jack Campbell rushed to hospital after tackle leaves him motionless on fieldDavid K. Li Tue, November 3, 2026 at 5:57 PM UTC
Jack Campbell of the Detroit Lions lies on the ground after he was injured against the Minnesota Vikings at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday. (Mike Mulholland / Getty) (Mike Mulholland)
Detroit Lions linebacker Jack Campbell remained hospitalized Monday as team officials hinted that the standout defender was recovering from a scary injury he sustained Sunday.
The team said “preliminary indications are positive” about 24 hours after a seemingly routine tackle left Campbell face down and motionless on the Ford Field turf.
“Jack Campbell continues to rest and recover at a local hospital,” the Lions said in a statement Monday afternoon. “Preliminary indications are positive and out of respect for Jack and his family we will not share further information at this time.”
Coach Dan Campbell, who is not related, thanked fans for their ongoing concern.
“It’s positive,” he said Monday of Campbell’s prognosis. “So your prayers are working. Please continue to do that.”
Coach Campbell declined to discuss details of his player’s injury. He and other players visited him at the hospital Sunday night, the coach said.
“It was positive. ... Got to see his parents, talk to his wife,” he said. “Everybody’s in good spirits, and it’s about the recovery.”
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Minnesota Vikings quarterback Kyler Murray connected with tight end T.J. Hockenson for a 10-yard gain, with Campbell and teammate Eric O’Neill bringing Hockenson down in what appeared to be a routine tackle.
But Campbell, 26, of Cedar Falls, Iowa, immediately became prone, face down on the field, and he was not moving as medical staffers rushed to his aid. He was strapped into a medical cart and driven away.
Campbell showed proper form, with his head up, in making the by-the-book tackle. But it appeared his head and neck might have been forced backward as his helmet made contact with Hockenson’s left hip.
Campbell most likely made contact with Hockenson’s hipbone, a rigid angle of the body with little give, said Dr. Robert Glatter, an emergency physician at Northwell Health’s Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.
That head-on-hip collision probably caused a spinal cord concussion at about the C7 vertebra, Glatter told NBC News. It appeared that Campbell was breathing on his own Sunday, which in itself was a hopeful sign.
“If someone’s not breathing, then you worry about a high cervical injury, C1, C2, and those can be deadly right off the bat,” said Glatter, a former sideline physician for the New York Jets.
“If I had to guess, it’s a C6 or a C7 type of injury just based on the fact he was breathing and his vitals seem to be stable.”
The serious injury cast a pall over the Detroit locker room Sunday as players cut short their celebration of a dramatic 19-15 victory over the division rival Vikings.
Coach Campbell had been jubilantly shouting out his players before he shifted the postgame address to their injured teammate.
“I do not have any more information on Jack,” he told players. “We don’t know anything else at this point. So here’s what I want to do: We’re going to take a knee. I want to pray for Jack. Let’s keep him in our thoughts and prayers.”
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com
Source: Sports
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