Best Strat For Gibbs & Montgomery In The Playoffs?

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00:00What about David Montgomery?

00:04Because David Montgomery, you know, the thought was initially it was going to be surgery and

00:09then they decided with rehab and all that he might be able to come back.

00:11They had three opinions on it.

00:12Yeah.

00:13And the idea that, and it's been floated out there and it sounds like he's going to give

00:20it a shot to play in the Lions' first playoff game, not this weekend but the following weekend.

00:26What role do you envision him playing at this point?

00:30I think he goes into a similar role he had before.

00:35They split carries.

00:36I don't know if it'll be an equitable split like we saw before he got hurt.

00:40I think what we've seen over the last three weeks with Jameer Gibbs getting the majority

00:46of the touches from the running back position because Montgomery's been out, he's been great.

00:51I mean, he's had over 100 yards rushing in each of the three games.

00:57He's been averaging something like 160 yards a game during that stretch.

01:01I think it was 165.

01:04His yards per carry actually went up a tenth of a yard to 5.7 yards per carry during that

01:09time.

01:10So Jameer Gibbs looks like he can handle a heavier workload, but you don't have to give

01:14him that heavier workload because Knuckles is ready to go.

01:18So I think you play Knuckles being Montgomery, but don't be afraid to lean on Sonic a little

01:24bit more than you have in the past when the two coexisted.

01:27So I think it's nothing but a positive here.

01:30It's another running back in a stable, and we like what Montgomery brings to the table.

01:36A guy who fights for every yard, he's the epitome of what Dan Campbell was talking about,

01:42biting kneecaps and clawing and scratching, dragging into the deep water, the whole bit.

01:47He's that guy who's that tenacious when he has the ball in his hands.

01:51My gut tells me, okay, and I guess it's more of a hunch than anything, I don't see them,

01:59you said equitable snaps the way it was before.

02:02I don't see that.

02:03Well, I didn't say that.

02:04Actually, you did say that.

02:06What I said is I don't think it's going to be like the equitable snaps like when we saw

02:09before.

02:10Oh, I thought you said it was going to be.

02:11No.

02:12My apologies.

02:13No, I think you lean heavier with Gibbs.

02:16To me, my concern here is Montgomery's running style is he's so good in short yardage situations.

02:27He's such a powerful runner that the idea of coming off a knee injury, again, maybe

02:36he'll be just fine, but it feels to me like it would be the kind of thing that hampers

02:42what he does best.

02:44It might, but if that's the case, then why play?

02:47Well, because I think he still could be better than Craig Reynolds.

02:54And I would see him assuming the Craig Reynolds snap count.

03:00I know you don't intend it to be a dig at Craig Reynolds.

03:04I think that at that position, if you can't cut and do what you expect to do because your

03:11knee is hampered, then you probably shouldn't be playing.

03:15And I think they keep that in mind.

03:16And I think Montgomery is keeping that in mind.

03:18And look, he's got another almost 10 days before he's going to have to play, which is

03:23awesome because it's a lot of time to continue to heal up and go through the rehab that you

03:29need.

03:30And by all accounts, it sounds like he's ready to go.

03:32So he's only going to be stronger and stronger by that point.

03:35But if he's not, if he's not ready to, then don't play him.

03:39Well, Reynolds and Vaki can handle it.

03:41I guess I look at this as, if David Montgomery comes back and he's 90%, I feel like 90% David

03:50Montgomery can handle the snap count and the role that Craig Reynolds played.

03:58And you're right.

03:59It's not intended to be a dig at Reynolds.

04:00It's with all respect due to Reynolds, who is clearly very valued by this football team

04:04because he's that role player that they keep bringing back.

04:09And they love, like, it'd be great to have RB1, RB1B, and RB1C, like to have three guys.

04:20But somebody's got to be that next guy that is just happy in their role.

04:27You play them in their role.

04:30They do everything you ask when you put them in there.

04:32But I mean, I think David Montgomery's role would be more like Craig Reynolds' role, which

04:39was 10 snaps, 24 snaps, 23 snaps in the last few games.

04:44And I guess I'd have to look at Jameer Gibbs was 45, 37, 45, and it was pretty equitable.

04:53But I also love featuring Jameer Gibbs.

04:55I mean, we talked about when David Montgomery got hurt, we actually looked at it, all right,

05:01it's a pedal down moment for Jameer Gibbs.

05:03It's time to unleash him on the league.

05:05We talked about how amongst the running back position, his yards per touch was top five

05:09or six, but his, and his total yards from scrimmage was top five or six.

05:16But his snap count was about half, you know, was half the snaps, roughly, it was 53 something

05:22percent, whereas Saquon Barkley, you know, guys like that are like 80 percent, 75 percent.

05:28And so he might be low key, the most dangerous weapon out of the backfield in football, but

05:34he just doesn't have the volume that other guys do.

05:38And now we've got to see volume Jameer Gibbs.

05:41The problem with volume Jameer Gibbs is the wear and tear, the extra hits, and that can

05:46take its toll long term.

05:47So that's why it's great to have two running backs like they've had, but I'm not sure the

05:54best version of the Lions offense isn't with Jameer Gibbs getting the amount of snaps he's been getting.

06:00Yeah, I would, I would agree.

06:01But I think that the offense is built to have a couple of guys go through that to share

06:06the load so that they keep them as fresh as possible.

06:11And the way they were operating before the injury was just that, because Gibbs was getting,

06:18you know, 12, 15 carries a game.

06:23And Montgomery was getting slightly more, but it varied depending on the game and depending

06:27on what they needed to have done.

06:30But I'm looking at, like, Craig Reynolds the last three weeks, eight carries, seven carries,

06:34and four carries.

06:35He had four carries against the Bears when they were at Chicago.

06:38So those are the three games since Montgomery's been hurt.

06:4119 carries in the three games, and it increased a little bit each game.

06:46Is that what I expect Montgomery to get when he comes back?

06:50No, I think he gets double digits, but what I think he does is maybe it's 10 to 12 carries

06:56a game, and Gibbs is still going to get the Lion's share of it, though not as much as

07:02what we've seen.

07:03But it depends what they want to dictate.

07:05Probably the most important thing here is that we can't know the variable that really

07:11will decide this is how healthy is he?

07:14Is it going to be David Montgomery at 95 percent, David Montgomery at 98 percent, David Montgomery

07:19at 80 percent?

07:20There's that, and the other thing is what's happening in the game.

07:23If the Lions have a lead, like a decent lead in the game, then I could see them, okay,

07:28now we're really going to switch it and make it 50-50 between the two, or really change

07:34it up and make it 33-33-33 with a third running back because they just want to run things

07:39out and they've been able to control the line of scrimmage and they're getting five, six,

07:43seven yards at a crack, and it's just one of these great Lion running games.

07:47There's a lot of variables.

07:48I know it's a different injury, but it's weird because we just mentioned Alex Anzalone and

07:54how you probably want to ease him back, he's been out, he's got titanium in his arm at

07:58this point, and then he misses one defensive snap in his game record the entire game.

08:03He's very noticeable out there.

08:05I don't know if Montgomery's cleared to play and he's healthy enough to help this team

08:10if he doesn't just go back to the role he had.

08:12But then we just saw Jamiro Gibbs have a record-breaking day and we know what he's capable of.

08:17We've been talking for weeks, Doug, how he may have just been unleashed now because he

08:21doesn't have anyone to share carries with.

08:23So yeah, I don't know how this is going to play out, but I think it's going to be 70-30

08:30Gibbs to Monty, but if he's fully healthy, why wouldn't they just go back to what was

08:34working before, Doug?

08:35You know, it's because I don't expect him to be fully healthy, I guess.

08:43Was it ever said that he will eventually get surgery on this knee?

08:48I don't think so.

08:49I think that was obviously an option and that's why he would have been out for the year.

08:50Yeah, I think they were concerned.

08:51I think the first opinion they got from a doctor was that he would need surgery, and

08:56that's why they went for a second opinion and that guy said no, and then they went for

08:59a third opinion and that guy said no.

09:01Yeah, I guess the idea is, can he rehab it to the point where he can play it, and then

09:06in the offseason they look at the long-term way that they're going to address it, which

09:10could be surgery, I suppose, but that's just pure speculation on my part.

09:16I love giving teams the full-on Jameer Gibbs experience.

09:22I love to see it, too, and I think all fans love to see it, but I think everybody has

09:26the same feeling in the pit of their stomach, please, God, don't get hurt, because he is

09:31absolutely what he was when they drafted him, what they said he was going to be, a weapon.

09:37We're at the point of the year where, yeah, you do whatever it is you've got to do to

09:42win games, it's do or die, it's the postseason, it's a good problem to have.

09:46The good news yesterday was that Terry Arnold was listed as day-to-day, that was a report

09:51by, was it Tom Pellisaro or Ian Rappaport, I can't remember who originally had that report,

09:55but I want to give credit where credit is due, but they did report that with the negative

09:59x-rays and now Terry Arnold day-to-day, which given the fact that Carlton Davis, Dan Campbell,

10:05ruled his return out, it's pretty damn important.

10:09It's very important, and I was very happy to hear that yesterday, I mean, being day-to-day

10:14and you still have 10 days or whatever before the next game, tells me he's going to play,

10:19he's going to be healthy enough, and that's great news.

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