John Penisini - Underwent offseason surgery Head coach Dan Campbell revealed that Penisini underwent offseason surgery to remove calcium deposits from his shoulder, Justin Rogers of the Detroit News reports. Impact Penisini reportedly played through this condition during his rookie season, making it even more impressive that the 2020 sixth-round draft pick led all Lions defensive tackles with 576 defensive snaps. While it's not clear when Penisini specifically went under the knife, it must have been a while ago since the Utah product has reportedly "looked good" during the opening days of training camp. Of bigger concern for Penisini is the presence of Alim McNeill, who has opened training camp with the first-team defense after Detroit spent a third-round pick on him this spring. While it's hard to imagine that Penisini won't at least be a key rotational piece in 2021, McNeill could run away with the starting job at nose tackle if Penisini is slow to bounce back from surgery.
JULY 29, 2021 • ROTOWIRE