The Detroit Lions started offensive tackle Gio Manu’s practice clock Wednesday, Dec. 17, in hopes of getting him some experience for 2026.
“I think for Gio, it’s, he needs reps,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Practice reps, get out there against our defense, against (Marcus) Davenport and Hutch (Aidan Hutchinson) in real-time practice. It’s not a ton of them and it’s not like training camp, but God, he just needs reps, man.”
A fourth-round pick in 2024, Manu has played sparingly in his first two NFL seasons.
He was a healthy scratch all of last season as a rookie and played in four games with one fill-in start against the Cincinnati Bengals at left tackle.
Manu injured his knee in practice a few days later and has been on injured reserve the past two months.
Starting tackles Penei Sewell and Taylor Decker are under contract through at least 2026, but Decker is nearing retirement and the Lions are thin on their offensive line in reserve.
“He cannot get enough reps and if we’re able to use him or there’s something there this year, that’s a bonus,” Campbell said. “It’s really about getting him, man, will this set him up better for next year? Training camp, going into that next year? That’s really it.”
Injury report
The Lions held a walk-through instead of a practice Wednesday, but listed Manu as one of four limited participants along with offensive lineman Trystan Colon (wrist), running back Sione Vaki (thumb) and cornerback Amik Robertson (hand). Colon said he injured his thumb in last week’s loss to the Los Angeles Rams.
Taylor Decker (shoulder) and Kerby Joseph (knee) were listed as non-participants on the Lions’ estimated practice report and guards Kayode Awosika (foot) and Christian Mahogany (fibula) and safety Thomas Harper (concussion) were full participants.
Mahogany, the Lions’ starting left guard, has spent the past six games on injured reserve but returned to practice last week.
Campbell said he’s “hopeful” Mahogany can return for this week’s game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. Colon started at left guard in Mahogany’s place the past two weeks.
“I know by last week certainly it was, ‘OK, that looked pretty good,’ but also knew he wasn’t ready,” Campbell said. “So I mean, we’re hopeful. I don’t – it’s a good question. I’m hoping it looks pretty good, I hope he feels good, but we’ll know more really by Friday. So full-speed (practice Thursday) and Friday he’ll go through and then we’ll see if he can go.”
Dave Birkett covers the Lions for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions OT Gio Manu returns to practice, Kerby Joseph still out
