The Detroit Lions have declared their inactives ahead of their Week 5 matchup with the Cincinnati Bengals, and Detroit will be without their starting left tackle, Taylor Decker.
Decker has been dealing with a shoulder injury all season, and he’s regularly missed practices during the week as part of an injury management plan. Despite not practicing, Decker has started every game this season and performed well. While Decker has managed to find a way to play through the first four games of the season, it appears things may have caught up with him in Week 5. While it’s not ideal to be missing Decker this week—with Trey Hendrickson next up on the docket—hopefully this extra time off allows him to “calm things down” and he’ll be able to return soon.
It’s not clear how the Lions plan to replace Decker, but they have options. The most direct way to fill the spot would be for the Lions to turn to one of their reserves—Giovanni Manu or Devin Cochran—to start at left tackle. Of the two, the most likely replacement is Manu, who has confidently suggested he’d be ready to fill in once called upon.
“Oh, I’m totally prepared, and that’s a huge thank you to (Assistant OL coach) Steve (Oliver) and (OL coach) Hank (Fraley),” Manu said back in Week 2. “I’ve worked countlessly with them before practice, even after practice. “Steve told me after practice today that he thought I had one of my best weeks of practice. I told him, ‘Because I’m ready.’ I told him, ‘If my number is ever called on, you guys don’t need to stress. Trust me. This is everything I’ve prayed for.’ Yeah, if my number is called, I’m going to go in there and you guys will see.”
If you missed any of the team’s roster transactions this week or need a refresher on our updated depth chart, with position-by-position rankings as well as a visual overview, we’ve got you covered. We also delivered a plethora of game previews leading up to this game, including breaking down the Bengals’ offensive/defensive schemes, Erik’s Honolulu Blueprint: Keys to victory, Jeremy’s On Paper preview, Al’s best statistical matchups, a bold prediction for the game from Brandon, and our POD staff pick-em predictions.
With two players elevated for this game, the Lions’ roster sits at 55 players on the game-day roster, and with 48 eligible to play, Detroit needs to declare seven players inactive for today’s matchup.
Lions inactives:
- LT Taylor Decker (shoulder) — Downgraded to doubtful and eventually Ruled OUT
- RB Sione Vaki (hamstring, groin) — Ruled OUT on Friday
- LB Zach Cunningham (hamstring) — Ruled OUT on Friday
- CB Khalil Dorsey (concussion, wrist) — Ruled OUT on Friday
- C Kingsley Eguakun
- DL Chris Smith
- DL Mekhi Wingo
Bengals inactives:
- EDGE Shemar Stewart — Ruled OUT on Friday
- WR Jermaine Burton
- TE Cam Grandy
- DT Jordan Jefferson
- CB Marco Wilson
See More:
