When David Montgomery left last Sunday's game in the first half, the Lions were down to Craig Reynolds and Devine Ozigbo as their only healthy running backs. Jahmyr Gibbs (hamstring) missed a second straight game, while Zonovan Knight suffered a shoulder injury in Week 5, and he is likely out for the season.
Montgomery is now in line to miss some time with a rib cartilage issue, which seems sure to be the next two games before the bye in Week 9. Gibbs seems to be trending toward returning in Week 7 against the Baltimore Ravens, but it's fair to assume he will be eased back in after missing two games.
The Lions have brought undrafted rookie running back Mohamed Ibrahim back on their practice squad, and he may be elevated to the active roster quickly if need be.
Dan Campbell offers unique potential solution for Lions to find rushing production
Appearing on 97.1 The Ticket's "Stoney and Jansen with Heather" Tuesday, Campbell offered up a way the Lions can fill a possible production void on the ground if Gibbs remains out or is not at full strength against Baltimore.
#Lions HC Dan Campbell shared on the "Stoney and Jansen with Heather" show that they are not afraid to use wide receivers like Amon-Ra St. Brown, Kalif Raymond and even Maurice Alexander in the run game, should Jahmyr Gibbs not be full strength against the Ravens.
— Matt Broder (@mattbro21) October 17, 2023
"Yeah, and I think if not, we’ve got other guys that we can use on the roster at that position; probably in the receiver room is where that could come from. So, we’ll do what we need to do to make it through this if that’s the case and all we have is those two, but I trust those two to be able to handle what we need to handle."
In the Lions' wide receiver room, Amon-Ra St. Brown has 17 rushing attempts now into his third season (one rush attempt this year). Maurice Alexander was originally recruited to Florida International as an option quarterback, making the switch to wide receiver in his third season. Kalif Raymond had 11 carries over his first two seasons as a Lion, and he got one carry last week against the Buccaneers while lined up as a running back-gaining three yards on an inside run.
St. Brown and Raymond have already been used occasionally in the run game. So Campbell's notion of using them to fill a void now is not fresh, but in a broad sense it will be all hands on deck if the Lions need to find production on the ground.