Taylor Decker is fighting through constant pain to remain in Lions trenches
Every gameweek is another gauntlet for Taylor Decker.
Detroit’s veteran left tackle is banged up. The same shoulder that has been bothering him since a torn labrum in 2017 OTAs has continued to cause problems to start the 2025.
Decker had surgery on his shoulder this offseason in an attempt to be proactive and get ahead of the injury. The procedure was successful, but then a new issue flared up. More pain. More frustration.
Decker, instead of spending his weekdays practicing with his teammates, spends large chunks of it holed away with Detroit’s training staff trying to get his body ready. And sometimes all that frustration flares up.
“I can be mad, and I can be hard to work with,” Decker said. “And they’re incredible. They don’t take it personally.”
Decker constantly dealing with pain in Lions' trenches
It’s been common this year to see Decker listed as a non-participant on Detroit’s practice reports. He’s participated in three practices this year out of a possible 13. He’s still suited up in all four of Detroit’s games, but the pain he has to fight through each week just to have a chance of making it to Sunday has been constant and debilitating.
“Decker’s been laying it on the line for us, and we know he’s not 100 percent so it’s taking everything to get him back to those games ready to compete," head coach Dan Campbell said. "So what he’s been able to do over the four weeks, it’s been impressive, and we’re fortunate that he was there for us to help us out. I think he’s been playing good football, and it’s just been about getting him back, trying to get his body back.”
Decker has been relentless with fighting every week to get his body in shape for game days. He’s the longest tenured Lion on the team as a former Bob Quinn first round pick from 2016, and in many ways its heart and soul. He’s been a warrior on Sundays for Detroit, but managing the pain throughout the week has been difficult. He knows there’s more his body won’t allow him to do.
“I think I’m playing well, but the frustrating thing for me is I think I could play better if I felt better," Decker said. "Yeah, the performances have been pretty good, but the frustrating thing is I have my own personal standards, and when you’re not at 100 percent it’s hard to meet those. But that’s why you still go out there and do your best for the team. I feel like if I’m out there, I give us a chance to win.”
Chronic, debilitating pain is the same thing that ended the career of Decker’s fellow Lions offensive lineman and close friend Frank Ragnow. The All-Pro center retired this offseason at 29 after a foot injury that had dogged him for years.
It was a surprise to the national media, but not to Lions teammates. And especially not to Decker, who admitted to considering his own football future after Ragnow stepped away.
Though he decided to press on, Decker has remained in contact with Ragnow this year as he works through the constant physical pain. There aren’t many people who know what it's like to power through all the physical pain and mental toll - all so you can line up against Myles Garrett on Sunday.
“I was just kind of venting to him about my situation, because I know he’s been in the shoes and he’s been in them more than I have,” Decker said to Detroit Football Network’s Justin Rogers. “...He’s in good spirits. He was funny. He was like, ‘It’s crazy how much better my body feels and that I don’t have to squat 500 pounds now.’ And I’m like, ‘Yeah, surprise.’”
Decker has held down the left side of Detroit’s offensive line for a decade now and anchored some of the best units in the NFL. He has battled through excruciating pain and overcome more than anyone outside of the Lions’ facility could probably ever realize. He plays an unforgiving sport that breaks you down in every way.
It’s fair to question, sometimes, whether or not it’s all even worth it. But maybe that’s the key to understanding a Decker, or a Ragnow. They were both in Detroit during the Matt Patricia era. They know, as well as any football player, what it’s like to pour everything you have into the game and feel like it’s going nowhere.
That’s not what’s happening in Detroit anymore. This team has dreams of a Super Bowl. It feels real to them. And that pursuit is what makes all of this worth it.
“I just don’t want to leave the game and then always be wondering or thinking what could’ve been,” Decker said.
The daily frustration and weekly absences in practice may well be Decker's injury situation for the whole year, or at least most of it. But sticking it out has sort of become his thing. And while his future after this season is anyone's guess, his present is focused squarely on making it to this Sunday.
NFL Announces Punishment for Cooper DeJean, Eagles DE for Week 4 Actions
The NFL officially docked Philadelphia Eagles cornerback Cooper DeJean for what Fox Sports’ play-by-play announcer Kevin Burkhardt jokingly — yet somewhat accurately — referred to as an “Allen Iverson step-over” in the Eagles’ Week 4 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
DeJean was flagged for taunting after he tackled Bucs running back Rachaad White early in Philadelphia’s 31–25 win. The flag came in the first quarter when DeJean stood over White and stared him down after the play. It was enough to trigger the league’s renewed emphasis on sportsmanship and, a few days later, the second-year cornerback was hit with a $11,593 fine.
During the telecast, Burkhardt’s partner in the booth, NFL legend Tom Brady, noted he’d had his fair share of defenders stand over him after throwing him to the ground or sacking him during his QB days. Brady also joked he often wished he could have reached out and hit those same guys “where the sun don’t shine.”
If you’re wondering why the number of the fine is so specific, that’s because taunting fines are standardized in the NFL. Players are hit with a $11,593 fine for their first offense and $17,389 for a second. Those receiving fines are allowed to appeal. The NFL posts weekly accountability summaries and the fine schedule itself, which spells out the amounts and the appeals process. The money accrued from these fines is given to league-supported charitable programs.
Cooper DeJean Not the Only Eagles Player Fined vs. the Buccaneers
Emilee Chinn | GettyBoth Eagles DB Cooper DeJean and DE Jalyx Hunt were hit with fines by the NFL for violations Week 4.
The discipline doled out by the league after after Week 4 didn’t stop with DeJean. Edge rusher Jalyx Hunt was also fined—twice—drawing fines of $6,834 each for a first-quarter blindside block and a third-quarter hip-drop tackle.
The blindside block was flagged on the field; the hip-drop fine was assessed and doled out after review. Tampa Bay, notably, didn’t receive any fines from the game.
The fine arrives amid a fast start to DeJean’s second NFL season. Through four games of 2025, he’s started every week and already logged 31 combined tackles with three pass breakups. The young DB brings a definite spark-plug energy, and his competitive nature may have played a part in why he was flagged in the first place. You can check out the play he was flagged on below:
DeJean Picking Up Where He Left Off This Season
His rookie year (2024) DeJean appeared in 16 games with nine starts and, remarkably, didn’t allow a touchdown in coverage while finishing as an AP Defensive Rookie of the Year finalist.
He also doubled as a return man on special teams, returning 21 punts for 211 yards, often flipping field position when the offense needed a jolt.
His signature moment — at least so far — came on his 22nd birthday in Super Bowl 59, when he jumped a Patrick Mahomes throw and took it 38 yards to the house, becoming the first player ever to score a Super Bowl touchdown on his birthday. That sequence did plenty to elevate his profile around the league.
The young corner is so versatile, defensive coordinator Vic Fangio and company cross-trained him at safety, where he took snaps during camp practices this past summer.
“I’ve definitely gotten more comfortable,” DeJean said about safety, via the Philly Voice. “It took a few practices to get comfortable back there, to understand how much space you’re working with, reading run-pass from a different perspective. Took a few practices, but I’m definitely definitely starting to feel more comfortable at that position.”
He’s still at corner now, but having players with the type of malleability DeJean has is never a bad thing. He may just need to cool it with the Allen Iverson imitations.a
