Taylor Decker will be in the lineup Saturday when the Detroit Lions play the Dallas Cowboys in a game with significant playoff implications for both teams, and the Lions could be getting C.J. Gardner-Johnson back, too.
Lions coach Dan Campbell said Decker will start at left tackle after missing practice time this week with a groin injury. Decker did not practice Wednesday and was listed as a limited participant on the team’s estimated practice report Tuesday.
He returned to practice Thursday.
“He’ll be good,” Campbell said. “We’re just being smart with him.”
The Lions are 6-0 in games they’ve started their current offensive line of Decker, Jonah Jackson, Frank Ragnow, Graham Glasgow, and Penei Sewell, and 5-4 in all other games this season.
On Saturday, the line will face one of the NFL’s best pass rushers in Cowboys outside linebacker Micah Parsons (13 sacks).
“He’s like a Swiss army knife,” Jackson said. “He can go the zero nose, three-tech, he can go on the edge, he can go in the box and he’s not the only guy over there. They have DeMarcus Lawrence, Dorrance Armstrong, Osa Odighizuwa. All those guys are just really good and they’re good at getting after the passer, so we got our hands full.”
Gardner-Johnson could give the Lions’ defense a boost if he’s able to play Saturday for the first time since tearing his pectoral muscle in a Week 2 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
Campbell said the team still is weighing how to manage its 53-man roster and how to divvy up playing time once Gardner-Johnson returns.
The Lions have gotten strong play recently from safeties Kerby Joseph and Ifeatu Melifonwu, the reigning NFC Defensive Player of the Week, and rookie Brian Branch has shined at the slot cornerback position all season.
Gardner-Johnson made 13 tackles in a starting role in the first two games of the season. He also has an extensive history playing slot cornerback in his NFL career. Joseph leads the Lions with four interceptions, Branch is tied for the team lead with seven tackles for loss and Melifonwu has 18 tackles, three sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in his three starts this season.
“Iffy’s playing really good football and look, Kerby’s doing a good job,” Campbell said. “But everybody just assumes is it Iffy or C.J. (that plays)? Why? Why would you assume that? When he comes back we got options, we got really good options. We got football players, playmakers and so it’s a great problem to have.”
The Lions need to clear a spot on their 53-man roster before Gardner-Johnson can play in games.
Houston returns
The Lions started James Houston’s 21-day return-to-practice window Thursday in anticipation of getting the second-year pass rusher back for the playoffs.
Houston, who has been out since fracturing his fibula against the Seahawks. He did positional drills and one-on-one work with offensive linemen Thursday, and said his ankle responded well to the work.
“I want to be a part of this team,” Houston said. “We’re doing really great things, I just want to be a part of something special so I got to do what I got to do on my part so I can be a part of something special. I’m extremely excited and I’m just ready to get back on the field.”
Houston said earlier this month he hoped to play by the end of the regular season. Now, a more realistic goal could be the wild-card round of the playoffs.
“Always coming back from injuries you got to understand that the doctor has fixed you,” Houston said. “You’ve gone through your rehab, you’ve done everything that you’ve needed to do so you just got to go back out there and play and not think about your injury or else you could get re-injured or anything could happen out there.”
Briefly
Cornerback Cam Sutton did not take part in the open portion of practice Thursday. If Sutton can’t play Saturday, the Lions would start some combination of Kindle Vildor, Khalil Dorsey, Jerry Jacobs, and Will Harris at cornerback.
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