Finally healthy, Detroit Lions OL anxious to show everyone how good it can be

They've been this close before, which is why Jonah Jackson paused an interview to knock on the side of his wooden locker when the topic came up Saturday.

Two years ago, the Detroit Lions were ready to debut their star-studded offensive line when left tackle Taylor Decker suffered a freak finger injury in practice four days before their season-opener. Decker missed eight games, and by the time he returned, Pro Bowl center Frank Ragnow was out for the season with a toe injury.

Last year, Decker and Ragnow made it through training camp healthy, but right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai hurt his back in the preseason finale and missed the season.

Jackson, entering his fourth season as the Lions' starting right guard, dealt with his own finger injury last year, and right tackle Penei Sewell missed a game as a rookie after testing positive for COVID-19.

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The Lions still fielded one of the best offensive lines in football last season, but the group they drafted and paid and have projected for starting roles since 2021 has not played a single snap together in the regular season.

That appears poised to change Thursday, when the Lions visit the Kansas City Chiefs in the NFL season opener at Arrowhead Stadium.

"That’s my blankie," Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said. "That’s my blankie, that’s Jared (Goff)’s blankie. Those guys, they’re good. They’re special. They really are. They’re one of the top units in the league, and I think we’ve always felt that way inside the building. This year we really need to come out and prove that to the rest of the league. And I think they understand that and they’re looking forward to it."

The Lions have not named a starting right guard — Vaitai and Graham Glasgow alternated work with the first team throughout training camp — but their top six linemen (and both reserves, for that matter) dealt with a handful of health scares to give the Lions a fully healthy Week 1 offensive line for the first time since 2019.

Sewell spent five days in concussion protocol in late July, Jackson missed a few days of camp after he caught his finger in a spider pad during a non-padded practice, and Decker (foot), Ragnow (toe) and Vaitai (back) all received days off to rest their bodies.

The result has been a fresh group that has played just enough together to know how good it can be.

"It can be special," Ragnow said. "It can be special. And one thing I can say, it makes my job a lot easier. Playing with these four freak shows, it makes my job a lot easier so that’s the biggest blessing of it all."

The Lions excelled offensively last season in large part because of their offensive line.

They ranked top-five in points scored and total yards, had the third-lowest sack percentage in the league (4.08%) and finished in the top half of the NFL in rushing for the first time since 1998.

Ragnow was rewarded with his second Pro Bowl trip after playing through a toe injury most of the year, Sewell went to the game as an alternate and Decker and Jackson also made the alternate list.

With Vaitai coming off back surgery, the Lions re-signed Glasgow this offseason to add another versatile, experienced blocker to the mix. Johnson said he is comfortable with either starting next week.

"We’ve got six guys that we believe are starters, or at least I believe that," he said. "Six guys that can go out at any time and function at a really, really high level, and I’m not saying the (backups) aren’t there, cause we do have confidence in them, too. But feel really good about the top six and I’m not going to say who’s going to be the starter, I just know I have a lot of confidence in both Big V and Graham."

Jackson said the line as a whole is brimming with confidence, too, and ready to show everyone how good it can be.

"We’ll have to see," he said. "We’ve been saying it for too long now. We’ll have to see. We got to prove it. Enough talking, mission loaded, time to prove it."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions OL finally healthy for Week 1: 'That's my blankie'