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Taylor Decker: 'I felt personally responsible' for Lions' first-half struggles vs. Texans
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- Taylor Decker: 'I felt personally responsible' for Lions' first-half struggles vs. Texans
Taylor Decker felt guilty watching the Detroit Lions dig themselves a big first-half hole in last week's win over the Houston Texans.
Decker strained his rotator cuff in practice last week and did not play against the Texans, who scored 10 straight points and led the turnover-prone Lions, 23-7, at halftime.
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"I felt personally responsible for the first half of that game, and I am not saying that jokingly," Decker said Wednesday. "Like I felt really bad, even though I know it was in my best interest and the team's best interest to sit that one out. Just when you're not out there with your guys, especially when it's guys that you've played with as much as I've played with some of these guys on offense, yeah, it's a guilty feeling. It really is."
Detroit Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker (68) celebrates 24-14 win over Green Bay Packers as he exits the field at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. on Sunday, Nov. 3, 2024.
The Lions scored 19 unanswered points in the second half to beat the Texans for their seventh straight win and Decker said he plans to return for this week's game against the Jacksonville Jaguars .
Decker has been dealing with a few minor injuries in recent weeks.
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He strained a pectoral muscle earlier this season and the rotator cuff injury he suffered last week also irritated a labrum he previously had surgery on.
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He said Wednesday he's feeling "decent," but downplayed the idea of missing more time to make sure he's healthy for the playoffs.
"There's not a fine line I have to walk," Decker said. "I think I leave that up to the medical staff and I've told Brett (Fischer) and Mike (Sundeen) since they got there, if I'm being stupid, I need you to protect me for myself. And that's their job and that's what they do. Because ultimately if you leave it up to the player, I mean nine times out of 10 they're going to play even if they shouldn't. And every game's important to me. I mean, we only get to play 17 and all things are pointing to us being in the playoffs of course."
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The Lions enter the week second in the NFL in scoring at 31.6 points per game, but have struggled in pass protection in recent weeks.
Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell argues a call while playing against the Houston Texans in the second half at NRG Stadium in Houston on Sunday, Nov. 10, 2024.
They allowed four sacks in back-to-back games against the Minnesota Vikings and Tennessee Titans , and while they didn't allow a sack last week, the Texans harassed Jared Goff enough to force five turnovers.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said technique issues against the up-field style of defense the Lions have played have contributed to their woes in pass protection recently, and Decker said it's important those issues get fixed moving forward.
"There's a combination of winning your one-on-ones, there's a combination of passing off games and then it's always going to be an entire offensive thing," he said. "We need to be able to give the quarterback time if we want the ball out and we got to give him a good pocket to be able to work in cause even if maybe you're engaged with your guy but you're too close to him, he can't get the ball out on time or he is going to hit his hand on your helmet. So it's a whole offensive thing. But for us up front, overall, not up to our standard for sure."
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The book on Big Z
Decker has kept extensive notes on the pass rushers he's faced over the years, and he shared his thoughts on new Lions defensive end Za'Darius Smith on Wednesday.
Smith played three seasons with the Green Bay Packers in 2019-21 and the 2022 season with the Minnesota Vikings before playing for the Cleveland Browns the past two years. He also spent time with the Baltimore Ravens early in his career, and has two sacks in seven career games against the Lions.
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"I've always said he's got incredibly violent hands and he was like that back when he was in Baltimore," Decker said. "And then we've obviously seen him for a while in our division here. Incredibly violent hands, powerful guy. And I think one thing is he's able to line up all across the field. You'll see him over the center, you'll see him over guards and then tons of times you're going to be lining up one-on-one with an offensive tackle. And then I think for him he's kind of got some of that swagger or that confidence cause we got some young guys out there playing on the edge.
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"I think it was really cool, I stayed home for this past game, but seeing his engagement in the game on the broadcast, you can just tell he's super excited to be here and I'm pumped to have him."
Injury latest
Decker was a limited participant on the Lions' estimated practice report Wednesday, while tight end Sam LaPorta was listed as a non-participant because of his shoulder injury. Campbell said LaPorta is the Lions' only real injury concern this week. Linebacker Malcolm Rodriguez (ankle) also was a limited participant. The Lions conducted a walk-through instead of a practice Wednesday.
Dave Birkett will sign copies of his new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline" at 7 p.m. Nov. 18 at the Applebee's in Auburn Hills. Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions notes: Taylor Decker eyeing return vs. Jaguars
