Sam LaPorta Injury Update: Will Lions TE Play in Week 1?

Sam LaPorta played a career-low nine games in 2025 after suffering a season-ending back injury in Week 10 against the Washington Commanders. Although LaPorta has recovered from that injury, he’s now dealing with a hip ailment sustained during training camp, putting his status for Week 1 in question.

The Detroit Lions begin the upcoming campaign against the New Orleans Saints at home on Sunday, September 13, at 1 p.m. ET. Will LaPorta be active when the Lions take the field for the first time in 2026?

Let’s look at the latest Sam LaPorta injury update and whether he could play in Week 1 vs. the Saints. Plus, we’ll look at LaPorta’s fantasy football outlook and Lions projections on PrizePicks.

Make Lions predictions for the 2026 NFL season on PrizePicks!

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Sam LaPorta Injury Update: When Will LaPorta Return From Injury?

Back on August 20, it was revealed that LaPorta was dealing with a hip injury, and head coach Dan Campbell was noncommittal about the pass-catching TE suiting up in Week 1.

However, LaPorta reportedly returned to practice on August 25, and he seemingly hasn’t suffered any setbacks in his recovery from the hip ailment.

A lack of preseason snaps isn’t a rare sight for LaPorta throughout his career, so it wasn’t uncommon for him to be absent from Detroit’s exhibition games this year. LaPorta hasn’t logged a snap in the preseason since he was a rookie in 2023.

While Campbell and the Lions haven’t provided any certainty on LaPorta’s status for Week 1, the goal is presumably for him to be ready for the season opener, barring any setbacks.

On PrizePicks Team Picks, a prediction of "Yes" for LaPorta to play in Week 1 carries a 1.01x payout, compared to "No" holding an 8.33x payout.

Lock in your Sam LaPorta picks on PrizePicks for Week 1!

Sam LaPorta Fantasy Football Outlook for Lions in 2026

As a result of being limited to nine starts in 2025, LaPorta finished last season with 40 receptions, 489 receiving yards, and 3 receiving TDs. All of those were career-worst marks.

According to Sumer Sports, LaPorta still had the eighth-highest catch rate (81.6%) and fifth-most yards per route run (1.98) among TEs with at least 100 routes run a season ago.

From a fantasy football perspective, LaPorta still managed to finish as the TE7 in fantasy points per game in PPR formats (11.9) before suffering his season-ending back injury.

Following a TE3 finish in PPG as a rookie in 2023 (14.1), LaPorta followed that up by concluding 2024 as the TE9 (10.9). There’s no reason to believe he won’t remain a focal point of the Lions’ aerial attack in 2026, especially with new offensive coordinator Drew Petzing keeping Trey McBride heavily involved in the Arizona Cardinals’ offense in recent years.

McBride finished no worse than TE2 in fantasy PPG over the last two seasons in Petzing’s offense.

Ahead of the 2026 NFL season, PrizePicks Team Picks predictions of "Yes" for the Lions to get 10+ wins return a 1.36x payout, as well as a 1.38x payout for them to reach the playoffs. On top of that, LaPorta returns a 1.88x payout to record 6 receiving TDs.

Make your NFL predictions on PrizePicks — featuring season-long player stats, awards, playoff qualifiers, and more!

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Make 2026 NFL Predictions on PrizePicks

Sam LaPorta missed some time during training camp with the Lions due to a hip injury, but he’s since returned to practice. Even though things are trending in the right direction for LaPorta to play in Week 1, keep tabs on any updates until the season kicks off.

The NFL regular season begins on September 9, and users can make NFL predictions for the upcoming 2026 season, such as the Super Bowl winner, divisional winners, and win totals, on PrizePicks Team Picks — available in 36 states!

Stay locked in on Playbook for daily NFL news as the 2026 regular season approaches.