The Detroit Lions, who are winless so far in five games played this regular season, again had a setback as linebacker DeAndre Levy will have to go through hip surgery and will be out for an indefinite amount of time.
Levy has only played in one game this season and it was in their 42–17 loss last Sunday to the Arizona Cardinals.
ESPN reported that Levy played "less than a half" facing the Cardinals and, unfortunately, re-injured the hip.
It is still undetermined if the 28-year-old will be placed on injured reserve and the outcome of the surgery will be the main factor to that decision, ESPN added.
Levy has not missed a regular season game for the Lions in the past two seasons and last season led the National Football League (NFL) in solo tackles with 117.
The former Wisconsin Badger has been a key to the Lions' defense and was named the team's Defensive Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
During the offseason, the Lions showed how important Levy is to the franchise by signing him to a four-year extension contract which, according to NFL.com, is worth $33.72 million.
So not having him for the majority of the 2015 season and him getting hurt again in his first game back is a tough challenge for Detroit.
Unfortunately for the Lions, they can no longer use their injured reserve-designated to return spot on Levy since it was used on rookie cornerback Alex Carter before the 2015 season began, ESPN reported.
The Lions' defense has been a hot topic since they lost defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh in the offseason as the latter signed with the Miami Dolphins and now, the injury to Levy is another huge blow for the struggling team.
Next on the Lions' schedule will be the second game of a three-game home stand against the Chicago Bears this Sunday.
