Penei Sewell 'Light Years' Ahead of First NFL Season

Detroit Lions would not even consider switching Penei Sewell to right guard, if he hadn't progressed as much as he has his sophomore campaign.

The Detroit Lions are still debating how they will handle who is playing right guard on Sunday. 

An unexpected injury to Halapoulivaati Vaitai has forced the coaching staff to evaluate as many different combinations as possible, to put the team in position to succeed in Week 1.

Among the options being mulled over is switching right tackle Penei Sewell to right guard. 

Offensive coordinator Ben Johnson provided his reasoning during his media session Thursday. 

"You look at all the possibilities that we could potentially unfold here on Sunday," Johnson said. "Penei moving in is certainly one with (Matt) Nelson playing out there. Could that be our best five? Absolutely. But, at the end of the day, is Penei as good of a guard as he is a tackle? I don't know. I do know this about Penei Sewell. In his second year, he's light years ahead of where he was last year (at) this time. If he was not -- if he was a rookie, we wouldn't even have this conversation. He wouldn't be able to handle it. But, because he is a second-year player, and he's really made strides this offseason, we can consider this scenario."

No concern about Austin Seibert appearing on injury report

Austin Seibert won the kicking battle over Riley Patterson during training camp. On Wednesday, Seibert appeared on the team's initial injury report, as he was limited in practice due to a groin injury. 

Special teams coach Dave Fipp explained that Seibert participated in everything expected Wednesday and should do the same on Thursday. 

Fipp explained, "I know he went out there, and did everything we asked him to do on Wednesday. And, going into today's practice, we expect him to do everything he would do on a Thursday."

Patterson was eventually claimed by the Jacksonville Jaguars, after being put on waivers by Detroit.