Jack Campbell injury update: Detroit Lions linebacker lay motionless after taking a hard hit on his helmet from Minnesota Vikings TE T.J. Hockenson

The Detroit Lions became the first team to defeat the league’s last remaining unbeaten team, the Minnesota Vikings. But they lost their linebacker Jack Campbell to a brutal injury in the fourth quarter of the Lions’ 19-15 victory over the Vikings.“Thoughts and prayers are with Jack and his family,” Detroit head coach Dan Campbell said after the game. “He’s being taken care of. We’ll keep you updated as this thing goes. But we are thinking about him. We’re thinking about him.”The team later said in a statement, “Jack Campbell is resting and will remain in a local hospital tonight for continued evaluation and monitoring. The team will provide further updates as we have them.”What happened to Jack Campbell?Minnesota Vikings tight end T.J. Hockenson caught the ball, but three Detroit Lions players jumped on him, trying to snatch it away. Eric O’Neill came from one side, Chuck Clark from the other, and Jack Campbell changed his route and came from the third side.All three Lions players surrounded the Vikings player in a big-time impactful sandwich play. The only fault? The one who looked like he had the least impact lay paralyzed on the ground. That was Jack Campbell.O’Neill went for Hockenson’s torso, Clark went for the ball, while Campbell went for Hockenson’s leg. Hockenson landed on O’Neill;Clark stayed away from the impact and didn’t fall to the ground, but the hard helmet hit Campbell took from Hockenson’s thigh knocked him straight to his stomach, motionless. His head struck Hockenson and his neck twisted backward awkwardly.O’Neill also took a hard hit to the helmet from Hockenson’s side torso, but because Hockenson was also trying to change route with Campbell, Campbell took the hardest hit to the helmet from Hockenson’s thigh.Campbell immediately let go of Hockenson’s legs and fell motionless on his stomach. Medical personnel arrived at his spot. They surrounded him for nine minutes before strapping him to a backboard.He was carefully lifted. He may have sustained a neck injury. He did not signal to the Ford Field crowd as they took him away from the gridiron toward the tunnel on a cart.Neck injury or prior concussionAccording to the Associated Press, the 26-year-old linebacker Jack Campbell stayed overnight at a local hospital for continued evaluation and monitoring of a neck injury.As pointed out by Heavy Sports, a board-certified doctor, Jimmy Liao, suggested that Campbell may have suffered a concussive injury three minutes prior to the hit that left him motionless.“Jack Campbell injury video: I’m including an earlier play from 3 minutes prior that was suspicious for a predecessor concussion. Hopefully, only a concussion here. Did not get hit in top of helmet so hopefully no spinal issue and just precaution,” Liao wrote on X.Aidan Hutchinson and Dan Campbell got emotionalThe former Iowa star has quite an impact on everyone around him. When Jack Campbell was being carted off, the camera focused on his teammates, particularly Detroit defensive end Aidan Hutchinson.Hutchinson was very emotional, but he tried his best to lead the team. At the postgame locker room speech, head coach Dan Campbell was almost in tears; he asked everyone on the team to take a knee to pray for Campbell.“I’m gonna lower this mood a little bit. I do not have any more information on Jack. We don’t know anything else at this point. But here’s what I wanna do, man. We’re gonna take a knee. Now, I wanna pray for Jack. Let's keep him in our thoughts and prayers,” the coach said.Get the latest Sports News and Live updates. Download the TOI app.