The Detroit Lions face another big matchup in Week 7, with a showdown against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on the slate for Monday night. The reality of a brutal NFL season is already taking its toll, as the Lions have been dealing with injuries to both sides of the ball.
Offensive tackle Taylor Decker has been dealing with a shoulder injury for a while now. He's already missed two games this season due to it and has barely practiced since the summer. Head coach Dan Campbell spoke to the media on Saturday and expressed that Decker is trending in the right direction, though. He added that Decker still wouldn't practice on Saturday, but they planned on getting him moving, per Nolan Bianchi of the Detroit News.
Lions OT Taylor Decker Is Heading in the Right Direction
Decker started the first four games of the season and was an average performer in those outings. He allowed 10 total pressures but only gave one sack and one QB hit. According to Pro Football Focus, Decker has a 63.6 overall grade (ranking 47th among 114 graded tackles), 63.1 pass blocking grade (ranking 49th among 114 graded tackles), and a 62.3 run-blocking grade (ranking 56th among 114 graded tackles).
He was solid in his outings, considering that his shoulder was giving him trouble then. Unfortunately, it appears this is an injury that will give him trouble for the rest of the season, though. The two weeks off could have given him some adequate rest. The odds aren't the best that Decker will take the field after not practicing all week, but you never know.
This is still a nice step forward for the Lions, as it looks like their starting left tackle is nearing his return. Last week, Giovanni Manu was placed on IR due to a knee injury. That led to Dan Skipper being asked to step in as the next guy up. In the loss to the Chiefs, Skipper started at left tackle, playing in 54 total snaps. He finished with a 56.7 overall grade on PFF.
He'll be able to hold down the fort until Decker returns, but the Lions are patiently waiting for the 32-year-old to get back into the starting lineup. He's made 130 starts for the Lions since 2016 and has been a mainstay along the trenches.
Detroit hopes he can plays against Tampa Bay but he's made some progress nonetheless.