The cause behind Joseph Fauria's injured ankle, which was shrouded in mystery last week, has come to light.
After missing Sunday's win against the New York Jets, the Detroit Lions tight end told a tale of a little dog named Lil' Rufio and a missed step.
"Long story short, I was at home after I went to go hang out with some friends on Wednesday night at a little volleyball event, if you guys want to talk about that, and then it wasn't until like 11 o'clock, hanging out with my dog and he did something bad and he ran away from me," Fauria said, per the Detroit Free Press. "I wasn't running downstairs, but I kind of like was doing it a little faster than usual and I missed the last two steps and my carpet goes to hardwood and I was wearing socks and I just put all my weight on my left foot and it was kind of in agonizing pain."
So there you have it: 6-foot-7 professional athlete injured by tiny peeing dog.
For the record, Fauria said alcohol wasn't involved in the injury.
While we've heard some outlandish excuses for off-field injuries in the past, this one seems a bit too wild to make up, right? What sort of deranged person would get hurt and concoct a lie wherein a 3-month-old little dog was the scapegoat?
It also reeks of being true because it falls right in line with the type of injury the Lions have been the subjected to in the last 12 months:
Last year, receiver Nate Burleson tried to save a sliding pizza and ended up breaking his arm in a car crash; two weeks ago linebacker Stephen Tulloch tore his ACL while Discount Double Checking; and now Fauria injures himself trying to stop a tiny dog from peeing in his house.
Fauria is expected to be out a few more weeks, meaning rookie first-round pick Eric Ebron's role should increase significantly.
The latest Around The NFL Podcast recaps every game from Week 4 and picks the best player in the NFL. Find more Around The NFL content on NFL Now.
