Allen Park — The Detroit Lions’ outlook at cornerback and offensive tackle is a little murky entering Sunday’s high-stakes primetime matchup against the Philadelphia Eagles.
Terrion Arnold remains in concussion protocol and did not practice on Friday for the third straight day. Amik Robertson suffered a hamstring injury this week during practice, but he told The Detroit News that he was experiencing some tightness and he expects to play. Robertson practiced on Friday.
The Lions were also without starting tackles Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker at Friday’s practice. It’s possible that both players are just resting their preexisting injuries. Decker was limited by his shoulder injury on Wednesday and Thursday, while Sewell missed Wednesday’s practice and was limited on Thursday.
It’s a similar story for tight end Sam LaPorta, who has not practiced this week because of a back injury. Campbell also doesn’t see him practicing on Friday, which would be a serious hit to his chances of playing against the Eagles. Lions defensive lineman Pat O’Connor also did not practice for the second day in a row on Friday.
“I’ll know a lot more today, that’s another one. I don’t see him practicing either,” Campbell said of LaPorta. “That’s the best way to say it.”
Cornerback D.J. Reed (hamstring) returned to practice this week after a stint on injured reserve, but the Lions won’t rush his recovery to fill an immediate void.
“I don’t see D.J. yet. I love where he’s at, man, he’s getting better. He and (Marcus) Davenport both, boy, they’ve looked good,” Campbell said. “We just got them back out there, working them back in.”
The Lions’ secondary was already planning to be without All-Pro safety Kerby Joseph, who has not practiced this week because of a knee injury. If none of the three starting cornerbacks would go, that means Detroit is down four of its five starters.
Rock Ya-Sin, Nick Whiteside and Arthur Maulet likely would be tasked with filling at least two of the starting cornerback spots, with Avonte Maddox likely playing the nickel cornerback role and Thomas Harper filling in for Joseph at safety.
As far as covering for LaPorta, Campbell said his trust in backup tight end Brock Wright is “sky-high.”
“Brock’s a guy we don’t talk a lot about, but he’s the jack of all trades, man, he does everything for us, pass protect, run block, he can run some routes, he plays special teams, like, he’s one of the most dependable players we have on this team,” Campbell said.
“And at the end of the day, what you really need in the tight end position is versatility and smarts, and he’s got both of those, and he’s tough. He checks a lot of boxes of a well-rounded tight end, so that is always going to make me feel a lot better — make us, offensively, feel a lot better.”
So far this season, Wright has nine catches for 71 yards and two touchdowns.
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
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