As one Penei Sewell experiment nears an end, another is set to resume.
With the Lions hoping left tackle Taylor Decker returns to action Sunday against the Bengals, Dan Campbell said Monday they're prepared to shift Sewell back to right tackle. This is what they envisioned when they drafted him seventh overall.
"I think right now the thought would be to move Decker back into his slot at left tackle and move Penei back to right tackle," Campbell. "That’s tentatively the way that we’re talking about going. We’ll have a meeting this afternoon to really dive into all that stuff, but that’s certainly where I think we would lean."
Decker has yet to play this season due to a finger injury that required surgery in September, upending one of the pillars of what was supposed to be a dominant offensive line. It sounds like he'll return to practice Wednesday. Campbell said the Lions are "going to see where Decker is at" and go from there.
Sewell, who turned 21 last week, has played the left side in Decker's stead. After an impressive debut as the youngest starting left tackle in NFL history, he's looked more like a rookie. He's yielded two sacks each of the past two games and ranks outside the top 50 offensive tackles in the NFL, according to Pro Football Focus.
Now it's back to the right side, where Sewell struggled in the preseason. But that's the long-term plan for the Lions, and they're sticking to it. The experience Sewell gained blocking guys like Nick Bosa, Robert Quinn and Everson Griffen the first few weeks of the season will only help him moving forward.
"Every one of these looks he gets, he’s going to be better for it," Campbell said. "Now, he’s gotta be able to adjust a lot faster than he did (against Griffen and the Vikings). It took him a while, and then he thought he had him, and then he got beat (again). I do think we’ve got to do some things to help him just a bit to get him going again."
Sewell also played against Minnesota after missing most of the week of practice due to an ankle injury. Campbell said he could tell Sewell "wanted to play just because he wanted redemption" after struggling the week prior against Quinn and the Bears.
"That’s the way he’s built and I love that about him. He was mad, and I know he’ll be mad about this (past game), and if you talk about giving him help, he’ll be pissed off about that. Like, ‘I don’t need help.’ But I do think we need to just settle him back in," Campbell said. "We’ll get him going here, but I love the way he’s built."