Injury won't knock Sione Vaki off course in development as a running back

The injury headline for Thursday's practice for the Detroit Lions was a shoulder injury for Sione Vaki. On Friday morning head coach Dan Campbell said the rookie running back avoided a significant injury, and according to reports from Allen Park he was in full pads for Friday's scrimmage-style session.

Vaki was primarily a safety over his two collegiate season at Utah. But injuries pressed him into action at running back last season, highlighted by games against Cal (158 rushing yards, two touchdowns) and USC (217 total yards, two receiving touchdowns). The Lions made it clear upon drafting him that they view him first as a running back, with the idea he'll be an immediate contributor on special teams.

Between a meeting at the NFL Combine and a pre-draft visit, Vaki impressed running backs coach Scottie Montgomery with some NFL-level preparation after he taken time to learn parts of the Lions' offense. He's got raw ability as a running back that just needs time to be honed and fully cultivated.

Sione Vaki avoids major injury, development as a RB remains on track

On Friday, via John Maakaron of SI.com, Campbell also spoke about Vaki's progress learning what is practically a brand-new position for him.

"He is growing and he's learning. I just bring it up again, he is new to the position," Campbell said. "I think for him, a lot of it is gonna be, really, the carries. What he's looking at, his vision, because that's where he's pretty smart. He's pretty instinctive, he's picking up the pass game, the protection. But I think that's where he's got a huge ceiling to grow is carrying the football and reading off blocks and understanding where we want it to go and playing ball there, which would make sense because we haven't done a ton of it. Look, he's doing a good job, he's doing good on special teams as well, and look, the kid's putting in the work too. He's young and he's raw." 

Vaki is a lock to make the 53-man roster; he simply needs reps as he makes the transition to running back. An injury of significance would have cost him valuable work, especially as the Lions now head for New York and two days of joint practices with the Giants before next Thursday night's preseason opener.