The Lions drafted Penei Sewell to be their right tackle of the future, but there's a chance he could start at left tackle in Week 1.
Veteran left tackle Taylor Decker injured his finger in practice this week and is likely to miss Sunday's season opener against the 49ers, Dan Campbell announced Friday. Sewell, who played left tackle in college, is one of Detroit's three candidates to take Decker's place, along with backup tackle Matt Nelson and starting guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai.
"Yesterday we started thinking about this and luckily we’ve got a lot of flexibility, because Nelson has played a little bit, certainly we have Sewell, and then having Logan (Stenberg) be able to move up (to guard) and bump Vaitai (to tackle)," Campbell said. "So we’ve got some options we’re going to play with."
Decker played every offensive snap for Detroit in 2020 and has missed just one game the past three seasons. The Lions will know more about his status after he meets with a doctor Friday afternoon, but Campbell said "it doesn’t look real good for this weekend." And with surgery a possibility, it's likely Decker will miss multiple games.
"Looks like he’s going to be down for a little bit," said Campbell.
Sewell is the natural candidate to step in at left tackle because, as Campbell acknowledged, "it's something he's comfortable with." But that comes with the risk of undoing the progress the seventh overall pick has made at right tackle, where the Lions envision him playing for the next several years.
"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 that Decker will be back in a little bit," Campbell said. "So that’s kind of the balance we’re playing with."
It doesn't help Detroit's cause that the 49ers boast one of the best defensive lines in the league, headlined by potential Defensive Player of the Year Nick Bosa. With that in mind, Campbell said the Lions aren't thinking past Sunday.
"It’s all about San Fran and what gives us the best chance to win," he said. "So we’ll work those combinations (in practcei) and figure out what’s best for us."
Campbell said Decker suffered his injury making a routine punch in pass protection, "like he does and like he's done all camp." Asked about the potential for surgery, Campbell said "it's probably leaning that way."