Lions RB Kerryon Johnson ruled out vs. Panthers after injuring knee

DETROIT -- Detroit Lions coach Matt Patricia had no update on the knee injury that knocked running back Kerryon Johnson out of the team's 20-19 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.

Patricia also declined to speculate on the severity of Johnson's injury.

"Football, that's part of the sport. You know, this happens every single week and throughout for every team that played," Patricia said. "So we wait until we know concrete evidence or circumstances or situations or whatever it is.

"Some guys, immediately after a game, you never really know because, you know, emotions and adrenaline and the body is revving at a high level so you really got to just, obviously for something that's a really serious injury make sure they are OK but other than that you've kind of got to kind of wait, which is hard, but we got to wait and let all the doctors and appropriate people that understand that stuff better than I do give me the information at that point."

The rookie, who has been one of the Lions' most dynamic players this season, injured the knee on a run where he started heading right, saw defenders and cut all the way back to the left side of the field before being tackled near the sideline for a 3-yard gain.

Johnson got up, went to the sidelines and was immediately looked at by Lions staff, first on the bench and then on the medical table behind the bench before heading to the locker room for further examination.

The sideline reporter on Fox's broadcast said as Johnson left for the locker room, "When he left the field and got in the privacy of the tunnel it looked like he was tearing up. He was obviously in a lot of pain," and that, "Earlier in the game, he was showing physical signs of distress."

Johnson entered Sunday's game with 103 carries for 554 yards and two touchdowns along with 30 catches for 203 yards and a touchdown. Prior to the injury, Johnson had 15 carries for 87 yards and a touchdown along with two catches for 10 yards against the Panthers.

With Johnson out, the Lions have Theo Riddick, LeGarrette Blount and Zach Zenner as running back options.