The Lions' offensive line entered this season thinking big. It will likely enter this Sunday's game against the Vikings missing its two best players: center Frank Ragnow and left tackle Taylor Decker.
After Ragnow left Detroit's Week 4 loss to the Bears with what Dan Campbell described Monday as "a version of turf toe," Campbell said the Pro Bowler is "probably going to be out" for Week 5.
And Campbell said it's "highly unlikely" that Decker returns on Sunday from the finger injury that's sidelined him for the first four games of the season.
So you can expect the Lions to line up against the Vikings the way they did for most of the game against the Bears: Matt Nelson at right tackle, Halapoulivaati Vaitai at right guard, Evan Brown at center, Jonah Jackson at left guard, Penei Sewell at left tackle.
That leaves Jackson, a second-year pro, as the group's second most experienced player. It also leaves him as its best player this season, according to PFF, with an offensive grade that ranks just 38th out of 75 qualifying guards.
Nevertheless, Jackson said "the goal is the same (for the offensive line) and I still think we're capable of doing that."
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"The group that came in (Sunday), we were able to drive up and down the field pretty easily," Jackson said. "It's just a matter of finishing."
In Ragnow, the Lions aren't just losing their best offensive linemen. They're losing their best offensive player. He ranks second among NFL centers with a career-high PFF grade of 86.2, but Jackson said Brown has the smarts to fill the void.
"He's highly-intelligent dude, he knows ball, he knows what’s going on," said Jackson. "He’s able to identify everything and process stuff fast. So when it comes to that aspect of the game, it’s not much of a drop-off at all."
We'll see about that. Missing its top two players four games into the season, it feels like Detroit's O-line has been reduced from a strength to a weakness.