ALLEN PARK -- Taylor Decker, Penei Sewell and Dan Skipper were all back at practice for the Detroit Lions on Thursday.
Those three offensive linemen were all missing from Wednesday’s practice. Decker suffered a knee injury last weekend, but was listed with only his lingering shoulder issue on Wednesday. Sewell suffered a shoulder injury in last week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. Skipper missed the first practice of the week due to a back injury, per the team.
Earlier this week, coach Dan Campbell said he wasn’t sure if either of the team’s top offensive tackles would be able to practice this week. So, Decker and Sewell being back on the field before Friday is a great sign for this weekend’s trip to Washington.
That’s all very good news for the Lions and their struggling offensive line that now has to replace Christian Mahogany. The starting left guard was placed on injured reserve after suffering a broken bone in his left leg against the Vikings.
Campbell has talked about shifting some pieces on the interior offensive line after Mahogany’s injury. It sounds like the Lions will roll with Kayode Awosika as the first option to start at left guard. But they are keeping close tabs on Trystan Colon, and if a move for Graham Glasgow from center to guard could help the push toward the postseason.
“So, we’ll start as we kind of ended that game the other day, and then maybe we start moving some pieces around,” Campbell said on Wednesday. “So, that’s kind of where I’m at now. Doesn’t mean that I will do it, but I mean I’d like to do it today, at least a play or two and see what that looks like, see where we’re at. Maybe some walkthrough reps.”
The Lions were missing three players at Thursday’s practice. Running back Jacob Saylors (back), defensive lineman Pat O’Connor (knee) and safety Kerby Joseph (knee) were not spotted during the window open to reporters.
Saylors was limited on Wednesday with his back injury. Neither O’Connor nor Joseph has practiced this week, with the All-Pro’s knee not healing as fast as the Lions had hoped. Joseph has missed back-to-back games while working through the issues that have stuck with him since training camp.
“The irritation is not going away as fast as we had hoped,” Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket on Tuesday." There is improvement. But it’s just not quite there yet. We’re not going to force this thing until we get it as calmed down as we possibly can. Because we don’t want to revisit this every week once he comes back. Maybe that happens anyway whenever he comes back.
“But we were hoping it would resolve itself a little quicker and cleaner. But it’s just not there yet.”
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