David Montgomery was a nice upgrade pivot for the Detroit Lions in free agency, as he'll replace Jamaal Williams as the team's proverbial workhorse back. After four years plying his trade for the division rival Chicago Bears, he's embracing a new lease on life in Detroit.
NFL players have been on their own since minicamps were done, and training camp report dates around the league are coming within the next 10 days. Staying in shape over the last several weeks has been a self-driven exercise, and some players have certainly fallen off on that front.
Not Montgomery. He has been working out with personal trainer Ian Danney of Performance Enhancement Professionals in Arizona. For the most part, workouts have appeared to be going well.
For the most part.
Lions running back David Montgomery gets owned by aggressive workout band (video)
In a clip that has now made the rounds, Montgomery is shown running with a workout band around his waste that's attached to a tire. He runs of out steam as the band gets stretched to its capacity, and.....well, take a look.
David Montgomery’s workout band can tackle him better than any Bears defender will this season 🤣 #OnePride pic.twitter.com/o4qwv4WmZE
— Woodward Sports Network (@woodwardsports) July 15, 2023
That looks like it could have been very bad. But it appears Montgomery was not injured by the unforgiving workout band, so teammates can easily laugh about it. When players report to Allen Park for training camp, Montgomery will surely be subjected to some good-natured teasing.
I am crying !!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂 https://t.co/q5NMVCxmQE
— Alim McNeill (@AlimMcneill) July 15, 2023
The Instagram post from Performance Enhancement Professionals put it perfectly in the caption with the Montgomery clip.
'the hardest he's ever been hit without being hit."
The Montgomery clip reminded me of this, another workout band incident, from last summer's "Hard Knocks".
Montgomery is more elusive and breaks more tackles than Williams, so the Lions are lined up to leave far less "meat on the bone" (offensive coordinator Ben Johnson's phrase) on the ground this season. But in that now fairly viral moment, a tightly wound workout band might as well have been a 300-pound defensive tackle for Montgomery.