Penei Sewell, Taylor Decker, Austin Bryant Placed on Reserve/COVID-19 List
Another week in the NFL during the time of COVID means roster changes for the Detroit Lions.
Wide receiver Josh Reynolds has returned to action after missing the Lions' Week 17 matchup with Seattle, but three more players are going on the reserve/COVID-19 list heading into the season finale.
Also activated off the reserve/COVID-19 list were Halapoulivaati Vaitai, Brock Wright and Michael Brockers.
Offensive tackles Taylor Decker and Penei Sewell have been placed on the list, as has defensive end Austin Bryant. All three could return for Sunday’s matchup with Green Bay, but head coach Dan Campbell knows he must prepare as though the team will be without them.
“I think you’ve gotta prepare like you’re not gonna have them,” Campbell said. “We thought we were gonna have Josh Reynolds. I was being hopeful, I was being optimistic with it and we didn’t get Josh Reynolds. Lesson learned there a little bit. We were ready, (KhaDarel) Hodge got those reps, it was all good. But, I think (Matt) Nelson’s gotta be ready, and Will Holden and those guys.”
Should both tackles miss the finale, it would be Nelson and Holden who would get the start in their absence. Nelson returned to action against Seattle after his own stint on the COVID list, playing 22 snaps after missing Detroit's Week 16 game against Atlanta.
Campbell knows that the duo could be ready to go from a mental standpoint if they are indeed cleared to play by Sunday.
“Taylor, if he’s able to go, he’ll be good,” Campbell said. “Mentally, he’ll be on it. He’ll be doing the virtual meetings, he’s played a lot of ball and so I think he’ll be ready to go. I think Sewell can handle it, too, as long as they're physically ready and back from COVID. So, it’s doable.”
Decker and Sewell have established themselves as the team’s bookend tackles when healthy. The latter, specifically, has been reliable, and has served as one of the NFL’s best rookie offensive linemen.
Evaluating Tim Boyle
With Jared Goff missing a second consecutive game in Week 17, backup Tim Boyle made his third start of the season. It was a streaky performance, with the signal-caller going on a solid spurt in the third quarter between two rough quarters.
He finished 22-of-37 passing for 262 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions. Though he made a nice throw to Hodge for a big gain, the lingering impression was he couldn’t connect with open receivers.
After watching the film, Campbell said he was pleased with how his quarterback handled the offense.
“Look, he ran the offense well again,” Campbell said. “He does great with communication with those guys. We had a lot of kills in, a lot of checks and man, he handled it. He handled it great. That’s something we feel like he doesn’t have a problem with, any of that stuff.”
Detroit’s head coach also said his backup reads coverages well, but suffered from inconsistent throws.
“Thought he read coverages pretty good,” Campbell said. “There again, (I) thought he made some really good throws. It was just up and down, it was inconsistent. You make a really good throw, and then on another one, maybe he wouldn’t quite get his feet set. He’s making an off-platform throw, and really if he just sets his feet, it’ll be more accurate there.”
Among these was an interception thrown in the direction of Tom Kennedy. The throw was batted in the air and picked off.
Campbell mentioned body demeanor as a trait his quarterback needs to develop, as he continues to get reps.
In all, Campbell was honest in his evaluation of the fourth-year quarterback. He wants Boyle to be slower in his mental processing, as he goes through his route progression.
“You love the fact that he plays fast, but you just got to calm some things down that will help him,” Campbell said. “And I bring this up, it’s easy to look at it, three interceptions and I know, but man, there’s something about this guy. I think he’s gonna get better. I think these reps are invaluable for him and look, he got put in a tough spot. That’s what he was charged with, we all were. But, that’s not the type of game we envisioned. I don’t care who you are, you don’t want to get in those types of games, because it’s hard on a quarterback. Even through all that, I did see improvement. He plays fast, efficient and it’s just some of those things we’ve got to calm him down.”
Updated list of Lions players and coaches on COVID-19 list
- WR Kalif Raymond
- LT Taylor Decker
- RT Penei Sewell
- EDGE Austin Bryant
- QB Steven Montez
- WR Geronimo Allison
- RB Rodney Smith
- Defensive backs coach Aubrey Pleasant
