There was panic for the Detroit Lions when it was feared running back David Montgomery would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury he suffered against the Buffalo Bills. But all Montgomery needed was time to recover.
The Lions gave him that time, shutting Montgomery down the rest of the regular season. The hope was rest and rehab would put him in position to return in the playoffs. That time is now, as the Lions will host the Washington Commanders in the Divisional Round.
Forging a comeback takes hard work, and Montgomery was able to put it together in a short period of time in order to push himself through the uncertainty. He revealed he did that by
"I was just locked in. Kind of put the horse blinders on and silenced the noise of the world and just kind of attacked it every day no matter what the day looked like. As long as I get an opportunity to wake up every day no matter how the day before looked, I got a chance, so I kind of looked at it that way and I put my best foot forward every chance that I got. Like I said, God put me here, so I'm here now."
Montgomery's work has him in position to have a role against the Commanders, who had the league's 30th-ranked run defense during the regular season.
David Montgomery believes knee is as strong as ever
No matter what role the Lions give Montgomery, the team can take solace in the fact that he is available. Not only is his injury feeling better, but Montgomery believes the situation may have helped rejuvenate him at the perfect time.
"(It feels) good. Great. I mean, I think it feels better than it did before I got hurt. (Rehabbing a) MCL sprain or whatever you want to call it, it's all about strengthening and the more you can get the scar tissue to grow back, the better off you'll be. In order for the scars to grow you have to strengthen it, so we did a lot of stuff that was kind of focused towards regaining the strength which calls for physical things. So (it was) pretty physical, pretty strenuous, but I needed it."
A healthy Montgomery can make the Lions' elite offense even better. Detroit's medical and coaching staff will have the final say on Montgomery's role, but it sounds as if he's ready to carry the load in a game where his presence will be significant.