Lions Week 1 injury designations: Taylor Decker ruled OUT vs. 49ers

Looks like there will be some shuffling on the Lions’ OL

The Detroit Lions have declared their injury designations for their Week 1 matchup with the San Francisco 49ers and starting left tackle Taylor Decker has been ruled out.

Let’s take a closer look at today’s injury report, noting that any changes in player’s participation levels will be bolded.

Ruled OUT

LT Taylor Decker (Finger) — Limited Practice Wednesday, No practice Thursday/Friday

In a passing drill on Wednesday, Decker injured his finger and it was significant enough that the team sent him to a hand surgeon for an evaluation to see if he required surgery.

“We’ll know for sure this afternoon, but I think that it’s probably leaning that way,” Campbell said on Friday.

Those results have yet to be revealed, but at a minimum, the Lions will have to replace Decker at left tackle this week. Campbell said the team has three options:

“We’ve got a lot of flexibility because (Matt) Nelson has played a little bit,” Campbell said. “Certainly, we have (Penei) Sewell and then having Logan (Stenberg) be able to move up and bump (Halapoulivaati) Vaitai. So, we’ve got some options we’re going to play with.”

The media is limited in what portions they are able to view during practices during the regular season, but based on multiple reports, including from our own Jeremy Reisman, it appeared that the Lions were testing out Sewell at left tackle and Nelson at right tackle— something the rookie confirmed he has been doing since Decker was injured.

Now, there is a lot more practice that happens behind closed doors, and things could change based on those results, but this is the latest information we have at this time.

Questionable

DL Michael Brockers (Shoulder) — Limited Practices all week
DL Nick Williams (Elbow) — Limited Practices all week
DL Levi Onwuzurike (Hip) — Limited Practices all week
NB A.J. Parker (Shoulder) — Limited Practices all week

There was no movement in any of the players who were limited all week. All enter the weekend questionable for Sunday’s game. Given that media is only privy to the first 15 minutes of practice, it’s hard to know how limited any of these players were, and it’s hard to gauge their likelihood of playing on Sunday given this is a new regime that may have slightly different definitions of “questionable” than previous regimes.

Obviously, this could leave the Lions a bit shorthanded at defensive tackle, but Brockers and Onwuzurike have voiced optimism about being ready for Week 1, so their statuses don’t appear to be in too much danger. Little is known about the injuries to Williams and Parker, however.

No injury designation

TE T.J. Hockenson (Shoulder) — Full Practices all week
RB D’Andre Swift (Groin) — Full Practices all week
TE Darren Fells (Shoulder) — Full Practices all week

Fells was added to the injury report Friday with a shoulder injury. Fells could be a very important player in this week’s game, as he’ll likely be used often in pass protection with Detroit hurting at offensive tackle. Thankfully, despite the injury addition, Fells practiced in full Friday and was not even given a questionable injury designation. He should play on Sunday barring a setback.

Hockenson and Swift appear ready to go, as expected.