Lions Mailbag:
How will Detroit react to life without David Montgomery?
The Detroit Lions will be missing a key piece of their offense due to David Montgomery’s injury. How will they react?
On Monday, Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell said that after suffering a rib injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, running back David Montgomery will miss time. Campbell did not rule out a trip to injured reserve for Montgomery.
There’s no doubt this is a huge blow to the Lions’ offense. Campbell previously called Montgomery “a big part of who we are and what we have on offense.” There will be an adjustment to make.
Will they introduce a new fullback like Jahmyr Gibbs, who seems to be trending back from injury? Will they have to change their overall philosophy to become a more passing-oriented team, like they did in the second half against the Bucs? Could someone like Craig Reynolds, Devine Ozigbo or Mohamed Ibrahim step in and take over Montgomery’s role?
On Tuesday, Erik Schlitt and I discussed the future of the Lions offense.
“Will they get through more? Maybe because that’s what the talented players around them are aiming for,” Schlitt said. “Maybe you’ll see more passing, but basically they’ll still approach the game the same way they did when Montgomery was injured earlier in the year.”
Montgomery missed the Week 4 game against the Atlanta Falcons. And although the game plan was slightly biased towards their passing ability (33 passes, 28 carries – not including knees), they did manage to share a significant number of passes with the defenders his other:
Gibbs (17 carries), Reynolds (4) and Zonovan Knight (3).
That said, there is one area of concern where Montgomery’s absence is felt, and it’s an important one:
the red zone. Montgomery has six rushing touchdowns this year, and the only returner to score a single score is Reynolds.
“They’re a really good scoring team,” I said. “We saw all the touchdowns that Jamaal Williams scored last year, David Montgomery almost beat that this year. What are they doing now?”
We delve deeper into this topic, including a discussion of what Ozigbo and Ibrahim bring to the table. This entire discussion begins around 5:
50 of the program.
Other topics this week:
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