Detroit Lions veteran left tackle Taylor Decker has been bothered by a lingering shoulder injury since the 2025 season began, and did not suit up for the team’s 37-24 win over the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday.
The injury has reportedly caused him chronic pain and has been extremely difficult to manage on a day-to-day basis. The Lions’ plan was to give Decker extensive rest throughout the week of practice that he would use to focus on rehabbing the pain and make sure he’s feeling his best on Sundays.
But Decker’s absence in last week’s game might suggest that plan isn’t going as well as anyone might have hoped. And head coach Dan Campbell seemed to suggest as much on Sunday.
“Every week, the recovery has been less and less,” Campbell said. “He’s not been able to quite catch up—we feel like there’s diminishing returns each week. Man, it’s a little, ah. We just felt like we need to give this guy a little time, and I don’t know how long. But this is so we get him back. That’s what this is. Man, let’s get this thing to calm down, let’s get some strength back in the shoulder to where he feels good.”
Decker going through slow recovery process
If Decker’s injury has gotten so painful that he’s recovering less each week, that doesn’t suggest anything good as far as his long-term outlook for the season.
The Lions started 2024 fourth-round left tackle Giovanni Manu in Decker’s place Sunday. Manu, widely viewed as a project player when Detroit traded up to get him in 2024, had an up and down day.
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“I thought he did some good things in the run game. I thought there were some play [action] passes he did a good job. And then there were some that they weren’t good, and he’ll learn from. He’s gotta learn from. That’s what you look forward to,“ Campbell said.
Detroit signed longtime swing tackle Dan Skipper to the active roster this week as well. It’s unclear how much time Decker will miss, if any, but the Skipper signing seems to suggest they’re at least planning to be without him.
The Lions also elevated tackle Devin Cochran from the practice squad to the active roster prior to the Cincinnati game.
Decker is the longest tenured Lion on the team and has been one of the NFL’s best left tackles for years. If he’s unable to contribute for a large chunk of this year, or if he ends up being shut down entirely, it’s a huge loss for Detroit.
And while the Lions have both a familiar veteran and developmental piece in place to step in, neither are as close to as steady as Decker. The shoulder injury has bothered him for quite some time, and time will only tell if Detroit can find a way to get him back on the field.
“Skip’s back, so we’ll look at Skip,” Campbell said. “We brought Devin Cochran today. He’s a candidate. And then we’ll see where Decker’s at, obviously. That’s always going to be our first choice to see where Decker is, but I don’t want to put Decker out there if it means that we get a couple of games and we don’t have him for the rest of the year. It makes no sense. So we’ll play this smart.”