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Taylor Decker misses practice again, Lions thinking long-term with OT's shoulder injury
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- Taylor Decker misses practice again, Lions thinking long-term with OT's shoulder injury
Taylor Decker said he hopes to play in the Detroit Lions ' home opener against the Chicago Bears , but the team may have other ideas.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Decker will not practice Friday for the third straight day and his status for Sunday's game is to be determined. If Decker can't play, second-year lineman Gio Manu likely will start at left tackle.
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"For the record, Deck wants to play," Campbell said. "I'm going to make that very clear. Deck wants to play. So this is about the long-term season is what this is going to come down to, just as far as what we do for this one."
Decker missed the start of training camp after undergoing offseason shoulder surgery , but played all 67 snaps in the Lions' season-opening loss to the Green Bay Packers . He missed practice this week with a shoulder injury and said he's "got some stuff that I'm dealing with," though Campbell said he's not sure if Decker's current injury is related to his offseason procedure.
"He's got a little bit of something here and so we're just trying to buy him some time here to where he feels better," Campbell said. "And then a lot of it, too, is the luxury of Decker's played a lot of football and so he'll be ready. He'll be ready as long as it feels right. But yeah, we feel good right now and there again, we still got another day here so we'll see. I can't give you a definitive yes (on whether he plays), but that's where it's at."
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Detroit Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker (68) smiles at warm up before the game between Detroit Lions and Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in Detroit on Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024.
The Lions have battled injuries at offensive tackle already this season.
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Jamarco Jones , the team's No. 3 tackle, suffered a season-ending ankle injury in practice last week and Dan Skipper , last year's swing tackle, has not practiced the past two weeks because of a knee injury.
Manu, a fourth-round pick last year, has never played an offensive snap in the NFL and remains in the developmental stage as a player. Campbell said the Lions might have to tweak their approach if Decker can't play and must do a good job avoiding negative down and distance situations.
"He's going to have to be ready and he knows that," Campbell said. "He's been getting reps all week. I did think he practiced better these last two days, which is good. And it - he's part of a whole unit, he's part of all five of those guys up there so he'll be ready."
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky , X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions injury report: Taylor Decker misses practice again
