Lions lose Leshoure for season, Browns’ Massaquoi out “indefinitely”

Cleveland Browns receiver Mohamed Massaquoi celebrates after scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Browns NFL football game against the New York Jets in Cleveland, Ohio November 14, 2010. REUTERS/Aaron Josefczyk (UNITED STATES – Tags: SPORT FOOTBALL)

The season hasn’t even started yet and already Lions and Browns fans have reason to be miserable.

The Lions got crushing news on Monday when it was revealed that rookie running back Mikel Leshoure is out for the season after he tore his Achilles’ tendon in practice. The second-round pick was supposed to be the power to Jahvid Best’s speed in Detroit’s rushing game this season, but now he’s faced with a full year of rehab instead.

It’s a bad break for a Lions team that is being viewed as a potential sleeper playoff candidate. Even with a healthy Leshoure, I think the playoffs might be out of Detroit’s grasp this season but an 8-8 record certainly isn’t. This is a young team that is being built correctly by GM Martin Mayhew and it’s going to take time before it all comes together. Losing Leshoure hurts, but this season is still all about guys like Best, Matthew Stafford and first-round pick Nick Fairley maturing.

The Browns got a bit of bad injury news themselves when head coach Pat Shurmur revealed that wideout Mohamed Massaquoi has a “bone issue” in his injured left ankle. Apparently no one is sure when it happened and the third-year receiver is now out indefinitely, but team president Mike Holmgren said Massaquoi won’t need surgery and that he could return to practice as soon as next week.

Massaquoi didn’t exactly set the league on fire with his play over the first two years of his career, but the Browns were expecting him to emerge as Colt McCoy’s top target this season. With Massaquoi out, second-round pick Greg Little should see first-team reps this week in practice. That’s probably a good thing considering the reports on Little so far haven’t been good. Apparently the young man has been doing his best Braylon Edwards impersonation and dropping everything in sight.

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