Locker room buzz: Manu's first start, Decker's status, happy homecomings for Montgomery and Barnes and much more
Cincinnati — Here’s what I learned bouncing around the Detroit Lions’ locker room following the team’s 37-24 win over the Cincinnati Bengals.
You never forget your debut
Going into the weekend, everyone expected it to be business as usual with left tackle Taylor Decker, who has barely practiced all season but had suited up for each of the team’s first four games.
The Lions knew differently, even prior to downgrading Decker from questionable to doubtful Sunday morning, several hours before kickoff.
On Monday, after the team came in to review the tape from last weekend’s win over Cleveland, offensive line coach Hank Fraley told the linemen that Decker wouldn’t be playing against the Bengals. He didn’t immediately tell the players the second part of that plan, but Giovanni Manu recognized, based on where he had been repping the past few weeks, he was likely the next man up.
A day later, Fraley called Manu and let him know he’d be making his first NFL start in Cincinnati.
Sunday was emotional for Manu. As he put it, he never imagined he’d be in this spot, given the unique road he took to the NFL, from Tonga, via Canada, but the support of his teammates and the coaches has been unreal every step of the way. All week, people throughout the organization, from the strength staff to some of the defensive coaches, told them how proud they were of him.
Before kickoff, after the national anthem, Fraley pulled Manu aside for one final pep talk.
“He just told me not to think, go play,” Manu said. “And he told me, ‘You deserve this moment.’”
The performance? Well, it went about how you’d expect. Coach Dan Campbell called it “up and down,” highlighting some of the key blocks Manu provided in the run game and in play-action, while acknowledging there were probably some plays Manu would like back.
The young linemen didn’t run from those plays after the game. In fact, the negative snpas were the first and only ones he mentioned.
“Yeah, you know, two sacks,” Manu said. “That’s all I’m gonna say. There’s a standard in our room and there’s a standard I hold myself (to), and, yeah, that’s just not the standard.”