It sounds purely precautionary to hold him out, but Lions first-round running back Jahmyr Gibbs is sidelined at rookie minicamp by an ankle injury.
Before any Detroit Lions fans reflexively shake their heads and say “here we go again”, remember it’s May 13. Assistant general manager Ray Agnew spoke to the media on Saturday morning, and said running back Jahmyr Gibbs “tweaked” his ankle at rookie minicamp on Friday and he will not take part in Day 2 on Saturday.
Via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:
“He had a little tweak, but no big issue,” Agnew said. “He’ll be fine. We’re just being safe with it.”
The Lions of course drew ire from the positional value truthers when they took Gibbs No. 12 overall in last month’s draft, after trading down from No. 6.
Gibbs is a dynamic dual threat back, as he led Alabama in rushing (926 yards) and receptions (44) last season after transferring from Georgia Tech. He is expected to share backfield work with David Montgomery as a rookie.
Caution has to be the word for the Lions with Jahmyr Gibbs’ injury
Rookie minicamp is not exactly intensive, physical work, with no pads allowed. But injuries like Gibbs’ can and do happen, “tweaks” or whatever they’ll be expectedly deemed by the team, and risking further injury just isn’t worth it.
Birkett and others reported second-round safety Brian Branch sat out Day 2 of rookie minicamp too. The cause of the absence for Branch has not yet been disclosed, but it should be presumed to not be a major thing.
Jahmyr Gibbs, Brian Branch sit out Day 2 of Lions rookie minicamp https://t.co/XlHk3Jex0s via @freep
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) May 13, 2023
Gibbs and/or Branch may not be on the practice field the rest of rookie minicamp, which ends on Sunday. But as long as they’re ready to go when OTAs start on May 23, and for mandatory minicamp June 6-8, this is more a notable headline from rookie minicamp than major, worrisome news.