Detroit Lions veteran left tackle Taylor Decker sat out practice again Friday with a shoulder injury and is officially listed as questionable to play Sunday vs. Chicago.
Head coach Dan Campbell said Friday that Decker wants to play against Chicago and doesn't necessarily need to practice during the week to play on Sunday, having 10 years of experience and 127 career starts under his belt.
"We're just trying to buy him some time where he feels better," Campbell said. "A lot of it too is Deck's played a lot of football. He'll be ready as long as it feels right."
Decker missed the beginning of training camp rehabbing a shoulder injury and it's uncertain if what he's dealing with now is related to or a separate issue from that. He played in all 67 offensive snaps for the Lions in their Week 1 loss to Green Bay.
"We feel good right now and there again we still have another day here to see," Campbell said.
If Decker isn't able to play Sunday, Campbell said second-year tackle Giovanni Manu has been taking reps this week and could be an option to plug in. The Lions also signed veteran tackle Devin Cochran to the practice squad this week and have veteran Dan Skipper on the practice squad. Skipper is getting closer to returning from an injury he's been rehabbing the last couple weeks.
"He's got to be ready," Campbell said of Manu. "He knows that. He's been getting reps all week. I did think he practiced better the last two days, which is good. He'll be ready."
KICKOFF RETURNS
In Week 1, 75.6 percent of kickoffs were returned (118 of 156). That was up from 33.1 percent in Week 1 2024 (57 of 172). The new kickoff rule moving the touchback point from the 30 to the 35-yard line looks to be having the desired effect the league was hoping for.
"Yeah, I think it's kind of what we all knew," Lions special teams coordinator Dave Fipp said this week. "Teams are going to force teams to return the ball as much as they possibly can.
"I don't think you want to kick it to them at the 15-yard line, so you're seeing them kick it back there and flirt with the goal line, so you see a handful of touchbacks but certainly not many. I think it's pretty much what we expected. I think it is exciting. I love the fact that the play is playing out, it gives us a lot more involvement in the game which is great."
There were 3,074 kickoff return yards recorded by teams in Week 1, the most in a Week 1 all-time and the most in any week in 15 years – 3,233 in Week 15 of the 2010 season.
After one week, the Lions rank 23rd in average yards per kickoff (23.2) and 28th in average starting position after a kickoff (26.2-yard line).
Running back Sione Vaki (hamstring) is doubtful to play this week, but when he does return, Campbell said he will be a significant boost to Detroit's special teams.
MUHAMMAD'S REPS
The Lions only played 47 defensive snaps against Green Bay with reserve edge rusher Al-Quadin Muhammad accounting for just seven of those. But in those seven reps, Muhammad recorded one of Detroit's two quarterback hits and ended up as Detroit's highest graded pass rusher by Pro Football Focus.
"He did have a bigger role in the game," Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said this week of Muhammad. "If we would've played the norm, the norm is somewhere around 60, 65 snaps, he would've played 15, 20."
Muhammad had a nice training camp for Detroit and earned his role as a reserve edge rusher behind Aidan Hutchinson and Marcus Davenport. I expect Sheppard to utilize his speed and bend off the edge a little bit more against Chicago Sunday.
EXTRA POINT
The Lions haven't lost back-to-back games since October of 2022 when they dropped a Week 7 contest in Dallas (24-6) and fell Week 8 at home to Miami (31-29).
