It couldn't just be a regular foot injury, eh?

During his Monday morning appearance on WRIF's "Drew & Mike" show, Booth Newspapers' Detroit Lions beat writer Tom Kowalski reported that the foot injury Kevin Jones' suffered in yesterday's 30-20 loss to the Vikings could potentially cause him to miss even more than the remaining three games of this season. (Here's the news at MLive.com)

Jones may have sustained a "Lisfranc" fracture (which I found after several futile "Liz Frank" Google searches), which is often mis-diagnosed as a sprain, but is actually a break or dislocation among the small bones in the arch at the top of the foot between the ankles and the toes. The injury could also involve a tear in the ligament that holds the bones together in that part of the foot.

(Did that make sense? I'm no Will Carroll or Samela.)

If surgery isn't necessary, the foot is placed in a walking cast and rehabilitation can begin after four to six weeks. (This is what happened with Eagles running back Brian Westbrook last season.) But if surgery is called for, several complications can occur - the most common of which is post-traumatic arthritis in the joint - and recovery can take more than a year.

But as with any injury, recovery time depends on the individual athlete.

Lions linebacker Teddy Lehman suffered the same type of injury last season and has taken more than a year to get back on the field. And even after recovery and rehabilitation, it's not certain whether he'll ever be the same player he was in his rookie year.

Michael Strahan sprained the ligament in that part of the foot, and the New York Giants are still hoping he can recover in time for the playoffs.

So is this a mercy injury for K.J.? Is it good that he likely won't have to participate in the last three games of this torturous 2006 Lions season? Or is having to watch the games from the front-row view on the sideline more of a punishment? Oh, that foot pain might seem mild in comparison...