Lions’ Decker: ‘If it’s up to me I’m going to play’
Offensive tackle’s absence was felt in past two games
Taylor Decker is closing in on a return from the high ankle sprain and bone bruise that cost him the past two games, and it couldn’t come at a better time for the Detroit Lions’ reeling offensive line.
Decker, who injured his right ankle in the second quarter of the Lions’ Week 1 win over the Kansas City Chiefs, said he plans to play Thursday against the Green Bay Packers “unless somebody who’s above me in the pecking order says differently.”
“If it’s up to me I’m going to play,” Decker said. “It’s not always up to me, but if it’s up to me I’m going to play.”
Decker was hurt on the 19th offensive snap of the Lions’ season-opener, when Chiefs linebacker Leo Chenal dove into the side of his leg while trying to make a tackle on David Montgomery.
Decker finished the game, but left the stadium in a walking boot and said he initially thought his ankle was broken.
“I guess I played it off well. I guess nobody really even noticed it until after the game,” Decker said. “I just didn’t want to have to come out of the game, especially cause, first game, it’s one of those things where you want to try and be one of the ironmen and not miss any snaps, which I’ve done a couple times in my career so it’s kind of a bummer that it got broke Week 2. But I knew I could be out there even if I’m not 100% I could still help the team win, so just keep going, take a bunch of Advil and more tape and Toradol.”
The Lions have shuffled personnel on their offensive line the past two weeks, moving right tackle Penei Sewell to left tackle and starting Matt Nelson at right tackle, but Nelson broke his ankle in last week’s win over the Atlanta Falcons and his backup, Dan Skipper, left with a hamstring injury.
Rookie fifth-round pick Colby Sorsdal, a college right tackle who was converting to guard in the NFL, played the entire second half against the Falcons at right tackle, and Graham Glasgow started the game at right guard in place of the injured Halapoulivaati Vaitai.
Vaitai will miss his second straight game with a knee injury Thursday.
Decker said it was tough watching the Lions lose their Week 2 game to the Seattle Seahawks from his suburban Detroit home, where doctors had ordered him to stay off his feet.
“You’re like, ‘Ah (expletive), if I could have been there I could have helped,’” he said.
Overall, though, he said he’s been impressed by how the line has dealt with its rash of injuries.
“The biggest thing, and it’s just a testament to our group is, no matter who’s out there they’re just going to continue to play hard and play physical,” he said. “Even (Sunday), you could just feel the physicality even if everything wasn’t pretty, where maybe a block was missed here or there, those teams were going to feel them, they were going to know that they played against those guys. So it just makes me want to just play even more cause I’m like, they’re out there and they’re fighting, scratching, clawing, I was sitting on the couch. So I’m excited to be back once I finally do.”
Listed as a limited participant on the Lions’ estimated practice report Monday, Decker said he still is dealing with pain in his ankle.
He won’t take any live reps in practice this week, but after failing to talk his way onto the field the past two weeks, he said he plans to play Thursday “as long as I can be functional.”
“If it was up to me, I would have played Week 2 and I would have just kept playing,” Decker said. “In hindsight, that would have probably been a stupid decision. That’s why I don’t necessarily get to make that call. But the best thing I could do at that point was just try to get as healthy as possible, as quick as possible so I can get back out there and hopefully down the stretch be feeling pretty much 100%.”
More injury news
Decker isn’t the only injured Lion who could return for Thursday’s first-place showdown. The Lions could have their leading rusher back on the field, too.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Tuesday he is “starting to feel pretty good about” Decker and David Montgomery’s chances of playing this week.
Decker sat out the Lions’ past two games with a high ankle sprain, while Montgomery missed Sunday’s win over the Atlanta Falcons with a thigh bruise.
Both players said Tuesday they hope to play, though the final decision will be up to trainers.
“I’m a competitor, I want to play,” Montgomery said. “Whether it’s Green Bay or it’s high school, I just want to play ball. I want to go out and play for my guys, knowing what they sacrificed and knowing the things I’ve sacrificed as well so definitely want to go out there and play ball.”
Montgomery leads the Lions with 141 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 37 carries. He handled the bulk of the backfield work, ahead of first-round pick Jahmyr Gibbs, before his injury.
While the Lions offense should benefit from having Decker and Montgomery back on the field, the Lions secondary still could be without safety Kerby Joseph and cornerback Emmanuel Moseley.
Campbell said Joseph, who was listed as a limited participant on Monday’s estimated practice report with a hip injury, still is in “wait-and-see” mode. Moseley, who has not played this season, is “doing well” in his rehab from knee and hamstring injuries, but has had limited practice time after missing all of training camp and the first three games of the season.
The Lions have only walkthroughs scheduled this week, so Moseley cannot test his injury live before the game.
“Brad (Holmes) and I have talked about the, is it time or do we wait until next week to see where he’s at since we can’t really practice this week, other than full-speed walkthrough,” Campbell said.
Once Moseley is cleared to return, Campbell said he will have a rotational role at cornerback in the Lions secondary until he’s ready to compete with Jerry Jacobs for the starting job opposite Cam Sutton.
“We’ve said it before here and certainly he’s got to prove that he’s still worth those reps, but I think that everybody feels pretty good about, as he goes out there he’s going to get his legs back under him pretty quick,” Campbell said. “But certainly we’ll see where that goes. And the good news is, if it’s not quite there yet then we still have Jerry and we battle it out, so we’re fortunate to have both those guys.”