ALLEN PARK -- Detroit Lions running back D’Andre Swift entered Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings hobbled by an ankle injury. Now, he’s dealing with a shoulder sprain and could be held out through the next two games until after the team’s bye week.
This news comes after NFL Network reported Swift suffered a shoulder sprain in the 28-24 loss to the Vikings in Week 3. Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Swift’s shoulder is sore and could potentially be an issue moving forward. Campbell also admitted that the team has already thought about holding Swift out until after their Week 6 bye. The Lions are back home to face the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4, then face the New England Patriots on the road before the break.
“Yeah, we’ve thought about that,” Campbell said on Monday from the team’s practice facility. “That’s one of the things that I was thinking about last night and this morning. It’s certainly on my mind. It’s on our mind. If you feel like he’s good enough to go, we know what he’s capable of, but not at the expense of him not being even up to 75% of himself. Every player has to be at a certain point to be able to produce. Not to mention the practice, not to be able to practice and get the detail of things. So that’s not fair to Swift either, to him or to us. Certainly we’re thinking about that, as well.”
Swift left the field early during the third quarter in Sunday’s loss to the Vikings. The television broadcast mentioned the shoulder issue, saying the running back was spending time on the sideline treating the injury, rolling the shoulder out while not on the field. Campbell admitted that the shoulder issue on top of the ankle resulted in the team limiting his touches.
It’s an all-too-familiar pattern Swift has dealt with since entering the league in 2020′s second round. He missed three games his rookie season, then four the next season, not to mention being absent for most of his first two training camps due to lingering ailments.
Swift exploded for 144 rushing yards and one touchdown in the opener. But he suffered the ankle injury in the season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. He played through the pain through the next two weeks, making an impact in a more limited role before suffering the shoulder injury. The 23-year-old had the two best games of his career in back-to-back weeks last season, then suffered a shoulder injury down the stretch. That forced Swift out of four games and left him limited for the final two weeks, leading to the summer of tough love under assistant head coach and running backs coach Duce Staley.
The Lions have preached teaching Swift the difference between hurt and injured, only for him to go down three weeks into the year with ankle and shoulder issues after flashing more of that game-breaking potential.
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Jamaal Williams handled most of the work with Swift out of action. Williams ran 20 times for 87 yards and two touchdowns. Pro Football Focus has Williams ranked as the top running back in the league from the Week 3 games to this point. Williams added 55 of his rushing yards after contact while forcing three missed tackles and running hard in short-yardage situations.
Craig Reynolds also saw more work out of the backfield. Reynolds ran six times for 13 yards, catching one pass for 5 yards while playing a season-high 13 offensive snaps. That said, the Lions and their average of 5.9 yards per rush attempt still sit atop the NFL after three games.
“Yeah, it goes back -- I think we kind of talked about this last week,” Staley said last Friday. “It goes back to thought process, it goes back to OTAs, training camp, and making a commitment. And not just the players making a commitment, the coaches also. So, you see (Lions offensive line coach) Hank (Fraley), myself being -- everybody, you make a commitment to run a ball, you just -- you spend a couple extra hours in the office trying to get it right.”
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