Lions place Alim McNeill on injured reserve, DT will miss at least next four games

McNeill has been an important piece on Detroit's defensive line

The Detroit Lions took a significant blow on Wednesday when the team placed interior defensive lineman Alim McNeill on injured reserve.

McNeill suited up for the Lions' Week 13 game against the New Orleans Saints, but he had to leave the field several times. As a result, he played his fifth-lowest snap rate of the season, logging just 70% of Lions defensive snaps. 

Lions coach Dan Campbell alluded to McNeill's health being an issue earlier this week. "Yeah, look, (McNeill's) a little banged up, so we'll know more on him probably in, I would say a couple of days, so there's a chance he may not be up either," Campbell said. 

For the season, the third-year defensive tackle has 5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss, and 9 additional quarterback hits. He's tied with Aidan Hutchinson for the team lead among defensive linemen in run stops, per Pro FootballFocus, and he is second behind only Hutchinson in total pressures. 

Hutchinson is the only lineman on the team who has played more snaps than McNeill, so the Lions will have a big hole to fill in their rotation up front. In his absence, Quinton Bohanna, Benito Jones, and perhaps John Cominsky will see more snaps on the inside, while Levi Onwuzurike could re-enter the mix as well.

However they try to replace him, losing McNeill down the stretch damages Detroit's chances of pushing for one of the top seeds in the NFC, especially with the defense not playing as well as it had earlier this season, and a schedule that includes games against potential playoff teams in the Broncos, Vikings (twice), and Cowboys over the final few weeks of the season.