Ankle issues don’t go away quickly, so Lions running back D’Andre Swift will be dealing with his until further notice and for better or worse.
Lions running back D’Andre Swift popped up on the injury report last week with an ankle injury. He was able to play against the Washington Commanders, and he was outstanding in limited work (87 total yards and a receiving touchdown on seven touches).
This past week, upon his being held out of Wednesday’s practice, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Swift’s ankle was in better shape than it was last week.
Campbell says they'll give D'Andre Swift a breather today from practice, but he's feeling much better than last week as he was dealing with an ankle injury.
— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) September 21, 2022
Swift was limited in practice on Thursday and Friday, and he’s listed as questionable for Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings. So he’s in line to play, just like he did in Week 2–however limited his snaps may be again.
D’Andre Swift will continue to play on injured ankle
However flimsy it was in a broad sense, since it wasn’t minor injuries that sidelined Swift for games in his first two seasons, Lions’ running backs coach Duce Staley challenged his star pupil to know the difference between being hurt and being injured and to play through minor injuries.
To his credit, Swift has responded. His practice reps will continue to be managed for as long as his ankle is an issue, to make sure he can play.
When talking about Swift and his ankle issue on Friday, Staley said the pain could be “lingering” but Swift “will fight through it.”
"He was dealing with a lot,” Lions running backs coach Duce Staley said on Friday. “For him to be able to block that (out) and move on and go out there and make some of the special plays he did, says a lot about him.Oh, he responded, Like I said before, he understands that his 80 percent is a lot better than other people’s 80 percent. And once he gets that understanding in his head, he can move forward with some of these little minor injuries."
Swift game day reps will also of course be closely watched for as long as his ankle is a thing, but he doesn’t need a lot of touches to make a big impact. Having him on the field means opposing defenses have to acccount for him, which is good for the Lions’ offense.
Swift may lack some change of direction smoothness on an injured ankle. At least in Week 2 his speed and explosion didn’t appear to be lacking, though he did lament not being able to finish a long run as he might at full strength.
The Lions have their bye relatively early, in Week 6. Swift’s ankle probably won’t be 100 percent until after that week off. In the meantime, he’ll be on the injury report after every practice and his fantasy managers will be closely watching inactives to make sure he’s indeed playing on Sundays.