Detroit Lions film review: What to expect from Rock Ya-Sin, next man up at corner
Allen Park — Tuesday afternoon brought encouraging news regarding Terrion Arnold’s shoulder injury.
Despite initial concerns that the issue could be season-ending, a second medical opinion revealed surgery won’t be required, according to multiple reports. That puts Arnold on track to return this season, potentially even this month, according to ESPN.
A stint on injured reserve is still possible. The Lions could wait until Saturday afternoon to make that decision, which would sideline Arnold for a minimum of four games. That would mean the earliest he could return to action would be Nov. 16 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
With the team’s other starting cornerback, DJ Reed, already on IR for at least three more games, Detroit is going to have to dig deep into its reserves in the secondary. Amik Robertson already got the bump from part-time to full-time in Sunday’s win over Cincinnati, logging 100% of the defensive snaps for the third time in his 22 games with the Lions.
Robertson, Detroit’s starting nickelback to open the year, continued to see action in the slot against the Bengals. When the team went to its nickel package, he would slide inside, with Rock-Ya Sin playing outside opposite Arnold in those looks.
It remains to be seen how the Lions mix and match things with both Reed and Arnold expected to be out of commission for the immediate future, but Ya-Sin is almost certainly in line for just his second start in three years.
A training camp standout, the former second-round draft pick proved to be a strong schematic fit for the Lions this offseason with his versatility, comfort level playing press-man coverage, and willingness to tackle in run support.
Ya-Sin has seen limited action through five games this season. He stepped in for a snap as an injury replacement in the opener, got mop-up duty in blowout wins over Chicago and Cleveland, before logging a season-high 25 defensive reps on Sunday.
With 42 total snaps, it’s a small sample size, but let’s look at what the tape has to say regarding the next man up in Detroit’s rotation, building on what we previously learned about the veteran’s skill set when we looked at some of his tape this offseason.