Taylor Decker’s return will wait at least one more week.
The Detroit Lions did not activate Decker from injured reserve before Saturday’s 4 p.m. roster deadline, meaning he will miss his sixth straight game Sunday against the Cincinnati Bengals.
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Decker suffered a left hand injury four days before the Lions’ season-opening loss to the San Francisco 49ers that required surgery and has not played this season.
He returned to practice this week, but was limited to individual work on Wednesday and took just a smattering of team reps Thursday before sitting out Friday.
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Rookie first-round pick Penei Sewell will make his sixth straight start at left tackle in Decker’s absence, and Matt Nelson will remain at right tackle. Sewell has allowed two sacks in each of the past two games and five on the season.
“The No. 1 thing for me is patience,” Sewell said Friday. “I’ve got to stay patient. Right now, I think I’m trying to, I guess, be as aggressive as much as possible and that gets me in trouble at times. So I’ve just got to let the game come to me. It’s a different game in this league. In college, I try to take it over, try to do everything possible and be as aggressive as possible. But yeah, just got to sit back and relax, stay patient on everything and let the game come to me.”
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The Lions (0-5) have 14 players currently on injured reserve, including Decker, Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow and top pass rusher Romeo Okwara. Ragnow underwent season-ending toe surgery this week, and the Lions placed receiver Quintez Cephus on IR on Tuesday with a broken collar bone, and Corey Ballentine on IR on Friday with a hamstring injury.
The Lions elevated wide receiver Geronimo Allison and defensive back Nickell Robey-Coleman to the 53-man roster for Sunday’s game.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.