The speculation that Lions left tackle Taylor Decker would miss the Week 1 game against the San Francisco 49ers turned into reality on Friday. Detroit head coach Dan Campbell delivered the unfortunate news in his press conference before practice.
“Taylor Decker had a hand injury early in the week and it looks like he’s going to be down for a little bit,” Campbell said before taking questions.
“We’ll adjust from there and we’ll move forward,” Campbell continued. He noted that Decker injured himself doing a pass protection drill in practice.
The Lions have a few options, though none are optimal. Penei Sewell played left tackle in college but the Lions are intent on making him the long-term solution at right tackle. Campbell noted “he’s getting pretty comfortable on the right”, and appeared to downplay the concept of moving Sewell to left tackle on a temporary basis.
Swing tackle Matt Nelson is an option, as is the idea of moving right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai to left tackle and installing Logan Stenberg in at RG. Vaitai started at left tackle for the Philadelphia Eagles during their Super Bowl season in 2017 but has played on the right side since.