The Detroit Lions have one sack in their first two games, tied for second-fewest in the NFL, and now they'll be without one of their best pass rushers "for a while."

Lions outside linebacker James Houston injured his fibula in Sunday's 37-31 overtime loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Lions coach Dan Campbell said. NFL Network reported Houston will miss at least the next six to eight weeks because of his injury.

Houston was injured covering a kick in the third quarter, when his leg bent back awkwardly after taking a big block.

Houston's injury is the second significant loss the Lions have taken to their defensive front in the past five days.

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Second-year defensive lineman Josh Paschal suffered a knee injury in practice Thursday and was placed on injured reserve Saturday. He will miss at least the next three games.

Houston, a sixth-round pick out of Jackson State in 2022, had eight sacks in seven games as a rookie, when he started the season on practice squad and finished it as one of the Lions' best pass rushers. He played primarily in pass rush packages the first two weeks of this season, behind Charles Harris at outside linebacker.

Julian Okwara, the Lions' No. 3 outside linebacker, also is on injured reserve and eligible to return in early October.

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The Lions suffered a slew of injuries Sunday, including several to key starters. Running back David Montgomery left the game with a thigh bruise that he told the Free Press probably will take "a couple weeks" to heal, right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai suffered a knee injury in the third quarter, receiver Antoine Green finished the game in concussion protocol, and Kerby Joseph (hip, shoulder), C.J. Gardner-Johnson (arm), Amon-Ra St. Brown (toe, cramping) and Aidan Hutchinson (undisclosed) were among other starters who left the game because of injuries but returned.

Campbell called Montgomery "day-to-day" with his injury and said Vaitai "could be out for a little bit" but likely will not require a trip to injured reserve.

"I don’t think so, but we’re just going to have to see how it responds," Campbell said.

'I didn't do a good job'

Penei Sewell's first game at left tackle in nearly two years didn't go the way he planned.

Sewell, the Lions' Pro Bowl right tackle, said he was not happy with his performance in Sunday's loss to the Seattle Seahawks, when he started at left tackle in place of the injured Taylor Decker.

"I didn’t do a good job and I feel like that starts with the example, so got to be better there," Sewell said Monday. "Clean it up, just like you said. Very dirty across the board and just got to be better."

Sewell allowed just two pressures on 37 drop backs, according to Pro Football Focus, and the Lions topped 100 yards rushing for the second straight week. But the third-year offensive lineman said he came away from Sunday's game — his first start at left tackle since Week 8 of the 2021 season — with "a lot of technical things" to clean up and "blocks that I should have made."

A college left tackle at Oregon, Sewell has played primarily on the right side in the NFL.

He started eight games at left tackle as a rookie when Decker was sidelined with a finger injury, but played exclusively right tackle last season and worked only sporadically on the left side in training camp.

"It’s not an excuse," Sewell said. "Coach depends on me, everybody on this team depends on me so there’s no difference (no matter what position I'm playing). But when it comes to what I need to work on, those attention to details, I’m like a yard away from making that important block and I just got to get off the ball faster or stay on the block with Jonah (Jackson) more, or just communication like that."

Decker's availability for this week's game against the Atlanta Falcons is uncertain, though Lions coach Dan Campbell said Decker is making progress in his return from a sprained ankle.

If Decker can't play, the Lions will be down ⅖ of their starting offensive line after Vaitai injured his left knee in Sunday's second half.

Vaitai, who missed all of last season with a back injury, could miss multiple weeks with his knee injury.

"As a teammate, I hate it for him just because he just got back from that really bad back injury so just to see him go down like that it just hurts," Sewell said. "I know how much he wanted it, especially for this year. Y’all know, you talk to him. I hate it but just like you said, we got to keep going and wait for him to get back."

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

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions OLB James Houston out for weeks with fractured ankle