Detroit Lions' Penei Sewell: 'I didn't do a good job' filling in for Taylor Decker at LT
Penei Sewell's first game at left tackle in nearly two years didn't go the way he planned.
Sewell, the Detroit Lions' Pro Bowl right tackle, said he was not happy with his performance in Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, when he started at left tackle in place of the injured Taylor Decker.
"I didn’t do a good job and I feel like that starts with the example, so got to be better there," Sewell said Monday. "Clean it up, just like you said. Very dirty across the board and just got to be better."
Sewell allowed just two pressures on 37 drop backs, according to Pro Football Focus, and the Lions topped 100 yards rushing for the second straight week. But the third-year offensive lineman said he came away from Sunday's game — his first start at left tackle since Week 8 of the 2021 season — with "a lot of technical things" to clean up and "blocks that I should have made."
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A college left tackle at Oregon, Sewell has played primarily on the right side in the NFL.
He started eight games at left tackle as a rookie when Decker was sidelined with a finger injury, but played exclusively right tackle last season and worked only sporadically on the left side in training camp.
"It’s not an excuse," Sewell said. "Coach depends on me, everybody on this team depends on me so there’s no difference (no matter what position I'm playing). But when it comes to what I need to work on, those attention to details, I’m like a yard away from making that important block and I just got to get off the ball faster or stay on the block with Jonah (Jackson) more, or just communication like that."
Decker's availability for this week's game against the Atlanta Falcons is uncertain, though Lions coach Dan Campbell said Decker is making progress in his return from a sprained ankle.
If Decker can't play, the Lions will be down ⅖ of their starting offensive line after Halapoulivaati Vaitai injured his left knee in Sunday's second half.
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Vaitai, who missed all of last season with a back injury, could miss multiple weeks with his knee injury.
"As a teammate, I hate it for him just because he just got back from that really bad back injury so just to see him go down like that it just hurts," Sewell said. "I know how much he wanted it, especially for this year. Y’all know, you talk to him. I hate it but just like you said, we got to keep going and wait for him to get back."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions' Penei Sewell: 'I didn't do a good job' at LT Sunday
