Lions Week 14 injury report: DJ Reader, Taylor Decker, 2 more DL not practicing Tuesday

The Detroit Lions (11-1) are hosting division rival Green Bay Packers (9-3) on Thursday night in Week 14, and both teams were back on the practice field on Tuesday. While things don’t look great for the Lions’ injured linemen, they still have one more practice on Wednesday before decisions need to be made.

Let’s take a look at the injury report and get you up to date with what we know. Note that any changes from Monday’s report will be bolded.

No practice

• LT Taylor Decker (knee)
• DL Josh Paschal (knee)
• DL Levi Onwuzurike (hamstring)
• DT DJ Reader (shoulder)

For the second day in a row, the Lions were down four key linemen at practice, at this time, the news doesn’t look good for any of them, most notably starting left tackle Taylor Decker.

“I don’t feel as good about Decker for this week,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said on Tuesday.

If Decker is unable to play, the Lions appear content sticking with Dan Skipper as his replacement on the left side and keeping Penei Sewell at right tackle. Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson explained this logic on Monday.

“I think a lot of that comes down to, (Decker)’s a guy that has played a lot of football and so if you’re telling me that there’s a chance that he could make it, he might not need to practice that week for us to keep him in,” Johnson explained. “So, when you’re looking at that, if you think that there’s a chance, then let’s not move Penei over and have to go through those gymnastics right there.

“So, it’s a little bit of just forecasting who’s going to be available that week and we know Penei can play either side equally well. Skipper can play either side, whatever he’s asked to do, inside or outside, he’s more than ready to answer that bell as well. So, we have some flexibility there.”

As for Josh Paschal and Levi Onwuzurike, Campbell’s outlook remained unchanged, noting that they were probably going to need more time, while also leaving the door slightly open for a return.

“I think the rest of it’s going to take a minute here,” Campbell noted. “(We’ll) see what today and tomorrow look like.”

As for DJ Reader, who showed up unexpectedly on Monday’s report, Campbell labeled him, “kind of a day-to-day deal here,” which is typically not ideal wording. Reader will have one more day to get himself ready, and while he also likely wouldn’t need to practice to play, things don’t look great at this moment.

Limited practice

N/A

Full practice

• CB Carlton Davis (hand, knee) — UPGRADE FROM LIMITED
• CB Emmanuel Moseley (hamstring)

While the injured linemen are trending down, the defensive backs are trending up and Carlton Davis looks to be in a good spot to return to game action this week.

“I felt like [Carlton Davis] CD looked pretty good yesterday, looked real good actually, so barring nothing else today in practice I feel pretty good there,” Campbell explained on Tuesday.

Emmanuel Moseley is stacking full practices, which is a good sign that the Lions played his injury situation correctly last week and he looks on track to play this week.

Packers' Tuesday injury report

Note: Packers’ starters are bolded.

Did not participate

• LB Edgerrin Cooper (hamstring)
• CB Corey Ballentine (knee)

Limited

• RB Joah Jacobs (calf)
• WR Romeo Doubs (concussion)
• LT Rasheed Walker (knee)
• LG Elgton Jenkins (knee) — Upgraded from DNP to Limited
• C Josh Myers (pectoral)
• DL Kenny Clark (rest)
• DL Colby Wooden (shoulder)
• LB Isaiah McDuffie (ankle)
• CB Jaire Alexander (knee)

Full practice

• TE John Fitzpatrick (back) — Upgraded from Limited to Full
• DL Arron Mosby (concussion) — Removed from injury list