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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.