His starting right guard, a past Super Bowl winner, will probably miss the rest of the 2023 season with a competitive Detroit Lions squad. Halapoulivaati Vaitai was not completely ruled out by head coach Dan Campbell, but he did say it is “unlikely” that Vaitai will play again this season. Vaitai’s back ailment has already landed him on the injured list with Detroit.
For Detroit, Halapoulivaati Vaitai started the first two weeks of the season before being sidelined for Weeks Three and Four. He did not participate in Week 9 against the Rams, but he did appear in the following four games, including a start in Week 7. Vaitai’s back issues date back to the previous season. He underwent back surgery in October of 2022 and missed the whole year.
The Eagles selected Vaitai as a lineman in the fifth round of the 2016 NFL Draught. For the 2017 Philadelphia squad that won the Super Bowl, he started ten games. Vaitai signed with the Detroit Lions as a free agent after the 2019 season, moving from guard to centre in the Motor City. As a Lion, he has 28 starts.
On behalf of the Detroit Lions, who is stepping up?
The impact of Vaitai’s injury on the Detroit Lions would have been far worse if Graham Glasgow hadn’t played so well this season. In Week 10 against the Chargers, Halapoulivaati Vaitai did not start because Glasgow pushed his way into the starting lineup. Since Week 3, he has participated in all of Detroit’s offensive plays (at a high level), switching between left guard, centre, and right guard as necessary.
Glasgow was selected by Detroit in the third round in the 2016 NFL Draught. Before making his way back to the Motor City this season, he played for the Denver Broncos from 2020 to 2022. Glasgow, who smoothly steps in for injured players, is a big part of the 7-2 Lions’ sixth-place scoring average of 26.8 points per game. It is now up to the squad to maintain its lead in the NFC North and win Detroit’s first division crown since 1993.
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