Detroit Lions’ Taylor Decker ‘feels good,’ could return at LT if all goes well this week

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Taylor Decker’s injured left index finger has healed to the point that the Detroit Lions are optimistic he will return to game action soon.

Lions coach Dan Campbell said Decker will begin practicing Wednesday. If all goes well, Decker, who returned to the active roster from injured reserve last week, could make his season debut as soon as Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I looked at him today and he had the right look in his eye and I know he’s ready to go,” Campbell said Monday. “Like, I can tell that he’s excited about jumping in there and starting to rep, man. Rep the left tackle position, and so really, until Wednesday comes and we get through that practice, I won’t know a lot. But we’re certainly prepared to, if he’s got the right look and you can tell that he knows he’s ready and he feels good and we get through it, then we’ll move that way.”

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Decker injured his finger in practice four days before the Lions’ Week 1 loss to the San Francisco 49ers and has not played this season.

He returned to practice Oct. 13, re-aggravated the injury the next day and did not practice again through last week’s bye.

Campbell said in late October “all options” were on the table with Decker, including shutting him down for the season and activating him to the 53-man roster while waiting for the finger to heal.

With Decker now trending towards a return, rookie Penei Sewell will begin seeing reps at right tackle, the position he played throughout training camp.

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Sewell, the No. 7 pick of April’s draft, had an up-and-down first eight games of the season at left tackle.

He started strong, drawing praise from 49ers defensive end Nick Bosa for his play against the 49ers, gave up four sacks in a two-week span in games against the Chicago Bears and Minnesota Vikings, but played well again in games against the Los Angeles Rams and Philadelphia Eagles before the bye.

The Lions had intended to keep Decker at left tackle and play Sewell at right tackle for the foreseeable future heading into the season, and that remains the case.

Campbell said he has no hesitation about moving Sewell back to the right side and losing the gains he’s made since summer.

“Because I go back to this,” Campbell said: “Now look, it’s different playing tackle but I know plenty of people that played left hand and right-handed stance. I mean, tight ends do it for years. Now, they’re not tackles, I get it, but at the same token, you get comfortable with it when you do it. And I think he’ll go over there and won’t miss a beat, me personally. It’ll be a little odd, but I also know he’s got enough reps over there — and look he’s a damn good athlete, and he’s a professional man. He wants to win. He wants to win his reps, so I think he’ll go over there and do just fine.”

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Williams update

Campbell said the decision to waive Tyrell Williams from injured reserve with an injury settlement was done because there was no hope of Williams returning this season from the brain injury he has been dealing with since Week 1.

“The writing was on the wall,” Campbell said. “I think both sides felt like it’s — there’s nothing happening this year. It’s not going to happen. And I talked to him a little bit ago, I wished him the best and I hope that he heals and everything, but it just, it was there again kind of a mutual parting of ways.”

The Lions signed Williams in March with hopes of him being their No. 1 receiver this fall.

Williams, who missed all of last season with the Las Vegas Raiders, finishes this year with two catches for 14 yards.

Campbell said Williams, who has visited multiple specialists since suffering his brain injury, is doing “better.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.