CLEVELAND, OHIO – NOVEMBER 21: D’Andre Swift #32 of the Detroit Lions runs with the ball past Sione Takitaki #44 of the Cleveland Browns during the game at FirstEnergy Stadium on November 21, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Jason Miller/Getty Images)
D’Andre Swift has missed four games with a shoulder injury, but he is in line to return Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks.
Despite not playing since being injured on Thanksgiving Day, Detroit Lions running back D’Andre Swift remains one of just four players in the NFL this season with 100 carries and 55 receptions. He returned to practice last week, but he ultimately missed the Week 16 loss to the Atlanta Falcons.
The idea of Swift landing on season-ending IR trended the other way last week. During his Wednesday press conference, Lions head coach Dan Campbell talked about Swift’s availability.
It’s an opportunity for him to grow,” Campbell said. “I think the thought is we’ll shut him down after Green Bay. That’s probably what we’ll do with him. He’s still got room to grow and we’re not going to put him out there until he’s healthy. So, we feel like he’s going to be ready to go this week and he’s been wanting to go. We feel like we’re at a place where, let’s go and cut him loose and let’s let him continue to grow and get better. That way we go into next year and he’s that much better for it.”
Shutting Swift down “after Green Bay” of course means when the season is over, as the Lions will take on the Packers in Week 18.
D’Andre Swift will be welcome re-addition to Lions offense
The Lions offense has been generally better in recent weeks, in line with Jared Goff’s improvement before he missed last week’s game on the COVID-19 list. The ground game has also remained productive, despite being down to Craig Reynolds as the lead back for a couple recent games with Swift of course out and Jamaal Williams unavailable on the COVID list.
But Swift adds something as a dual threat the Lions have been missing. He was running well in the two full games before his injury (5.7 yards per carry). Even in what may be limited snaps on Sunday and/or in Week 18, ending the season with momentum of having played is a good thing. Only hindsight will tell if it’d been better to just shut Swift down at some point in recent weeks.