Taylor Decker injury leaves Lions with questions at left tackle
The Lions had their fourth straight impressive win on Sunday in Cincinnati, but there was an area of concern at left tackle, where starter Taylor Decker was out with a shoulder injury and backup Giovanni Manu was not up to the task of protecting Jared Goff's blind side.
Lions coach Dan Campbell described Manu's performance as "up and down," but that's being generous. Manu did not play well, and if he's going to fill in for Decker again, the Lions need him to play a lot better.
"There were some [plays] that weren't good, and he'll learn from them, and he's got to learn from them," Campbell said of Manu.
Campbell said that if Decker misses more games, they may keep Manu on the sideline and look for a new replacement. That could be Dan Skipper or Devin Cochran, the other offensive tackles on the team. Campbell stressed that the Lions want Decker back on the field, but only when they're sure he won't aggravate his injury.
"We'll see where Decker is at — that's always our first choice, to see where Decker is, but I don't want to put Decker in there for a few games if that means he won't be available at the end of the year. That makes no sense," Campbell said.
Campbell said Decker has been trying all year to tough it out with his shoulder injury, but in each of the first four games of the season his shoulder felt a little worse, and the Lions finally decided they needed to give him time to heal.
"Every week, the recovery has been less and less," Campbell said. "There's diminishing returns every week and we 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. Let's get some strength in the shoulder so he feels good."
The Lions will feel a lot better when a healthy Decker is protecting Goff again.
Cleveland Browns QB Dillon Gabriel has one key area to improve
Cleveland Browns quarterback Dillon Gabriel is fresh off his first career NFL start, but he has a lot to learn in order to stick around and be a mainstay for the team.
One of Gabriel's areas of improvement is his ability to convert on third down. While he was successful doing that in the preseason, he only turned three third downs into first down in 15 attempts. Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski explained what he saw from Gabriel in that area of the game.
"It’s a combination of things, but I thought by and large he was getting through progressions," Stefanski said of Gabriel's third down struggles.
"There’s things that I know he can do better, that he knew when he was walking off the field. So, he’s got very good self-awareness and those types of things. But that was a very good pass defense that we were facing, both from a coverage and a pass rush standpoint. So, I thought he did a good job of taking care of the football, moving in the pocket when he needed to.
"But bottom line is you have to try to find a way to stay on the field, and a lot of times it’s your ability to be efficient on first and second down and put you in some manageable third downs that will allow that.”
It's only Gabriel's first start with the Browns as a rookie, so he will have time to prove himself. However, he will definitely be studying the film before the team's Week 6 contest against the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The hope is that Gabriel will get better game after game, but Stefanski trusts his rookie quarterback based on his performance against the Minnesota Vikings.
"Obviously can always [do] better, and certainly we as an offense have to better and score more to help this football team," Stefanski said. "But for, you know, a young player in that environment versus that defense to take care of the ball, make the plays he made, I thought was a lot of positives with plenty to clean up. And that’s what he will do. And that’s the mentality he has, certainly to be a player that continues to get better week in and week out.”
Gabriel and the Browns are back in action in Week 6 when they visit the Steelers at Acrisure Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for Sunday at 1 p.m.
