Taylor Decker: I’ve been in Detroit 8 years, a lot of times nobody wanted to watch the Lions
The NFL gave the Lions a marquee schedule in 2023, starting with the Week One opener at Kansas City and continuing with four more prime time games in addition to their traditional Thanksgiving game. Lions offensive lineman Taylor Decker recognizes that the expectations are high in Detroit.
“This will be eight years I’ve been here now, and there were a lot of times when nobody wanted to watch the Lions,” Decker said.
But while Decker noted that the Lions have “a huge opportunity” getting the traditional Thursday night opener against the reigning Super Bowl champions, he also said that the players need to perform regardless of what the expectations are.
“I feel that no matter what your record is going to be, or no matter if you’re in the media or people are jumping on the Lions, I’m a professional, we’re professionals, we’re expected to come out here and perform,” Decker said. “You’re paid to come out here and perform no matter what anybody is saying about you. That’s just the way I take it. I’ve said this in the past, not to be grim, but I’ve been here a lot where we’ve been shit on. We were kind of the butt of jokes. I don’t want that, that’s not fun to be a part of, so I’m going to continue to work and put in everything I can to just try and help the team. Whatever our record ends up being, whatever this team ends up being I don’t know. I just know what I can do.”
Decker noted that Lions fans haven’t had much to celebrate but have supported the team anyway, and they deserve a great season like they’re hoping for in 2023.
“The fans deserve it,” Decker said. “We’ve had a great fan base here.”
Taylor Decker: I’ve been in Detroit 8 years, a lot of times nobody wanted to watch the Lions originally appeared on Pro Football Talk
