It looks like the Lions won’t have their starting left tackle for at least this weekend — and possibly longer.
Head coach Dan Campbell told reporters in his Friday press conference that Decker injured his finger and will be “down for a little bit.”
Campbell did not get into a specific timeline, but did note, “I would say it doesn’t look real good for this weekend.”
Decker injured the finger while pass setting in practice earlier this week. Detroit listed him as limited in Wednesday’s session before he did not participate on Thursday.
With Decker down, Campbell said the Lions could turn to Matt Nelson, Halapoulivaati Vaitai, or rookie Penei Sewell at left tackle. Sewell has been working at right tackle since he was drafted, but Campbell noted he does have familiarity with the position from playing it in college.
“It’s that fine balance between who do you feel like is best to move to the left side, versus he’s a rookie and he’s getting better on the right side, and let’s keep him there knowing Decker will be back in a little bit,” Campbell said. “So that’s kind of the balance that we’re playing with.”
Either way, the Lions now have to do some shifting with San Francisco coming to town with a healthy and motivated Nick Bosa on Sunday.