Sione Vaki found a silver lining in the broken nose he suffered when he got hit in the face, through his facemask, in the Detroit Lions’ first padded practice of training camp earlier this summer.
Vaki returned to practice Saturday, Aug. 15, in Allen Park after a 12-day absence, and took some first-team reps at running back while wearing a visor on his facemask.
He said it’s the first time he has ever worn a visor on the field, and it’s given him new clout with his teammates.
“The running back room said I got a little bit more swag now that I got the visor on, so it was a blessing and a curse,” Vaki joked.
Vaki suffered a non-displaced fracture of his nose and still has a black and bloodshot left eye from a play Lions coach Dan Campbell called “one of those freak things.”
Vaki said he had blurry vision in his eye immediately after the incident but was grateful he didn’t suffer more damage.
“It was just a fluke play,” he said. “I was running the ball and then the hand slipped through the facemask. I mean, I can’t really explain it. It happened all so quick.”
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The Lions weren’t in pads Saturday, but Vaki could return to game action when the Lions host the Washington Commanders at Ford Field next Saturday, Aug. 22 (noon) in their second preseason game.
Vaki, one of the Lions’ best special teams players, has played sparingly on offense to this point in his NFL career. He had six carries for 14 yards as a rookie in 2024 after switching from safety in college, missed six games with groin and hamstring injuries last year and needs work on offense to take on a bigger role this fall.
“I think this is a real crucial time to be out here, show what you got for the team,” he said. “So I’m just happy that it was nothing [serious].”
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Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: One of Detroit Lions best special-teamers returns after fluke injury