Allen Park — Whether it was a smoke screen or a bold proclamation, we must wait to find out.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said earlier this week Detroit would use rookie running back Jahmyr Gibbs “in some ways that people don’t quite think we might” when talking about his running back duo ahead of Thursday’s NFL season opener against the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium.
But regardless of whether that just means Johnson plans to use Gibbs out wide — like many speculate he might — or has some doubly wicked twist up his sleeve, the Chiefs will be throwing all hands on deck to make sure the rookie back is contained.
“It’s all eyeballs on number 26 when he goes in the game,” Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said, referencing Gibbs. “That’s one of the things we’ve been talking about, know where he is and if he’s in the game because we certainly think with a guy that’s that explosive, they’re going to try to find a way to get him the ball.”
The No. 12 overall pick out of Alabama played just 18 snaps this preseason, all of which came in a 21-16 win over the New York Giants at Ford Field to kick off the exhibition slate. He took six carries for 19 yards and caught one pass for 18 yards.
While Gibbs doesn’t have much tape in a Lions uniform, Spagnuolo said they’ve started game planning for him by digging into his college reels.
“He didn’t play a lot in preseason. There were a couple snaps there, but we have looked at Alabama film. They found good ways to get him the ball on the perimeter; we expect the Lions to do the same thing,” Spagnuolo said.
It’s unclear what Johnson was referring to when he said Gibbs would be used in ways people hadn’t thought, but he also followed up by saying the same thing about Lions running back David Montgomery. Perhaps it’s just an early attempt at dangling what Spagnuolo called “eye candy,” which he said the Lions do “an outstanding job of.”
“The quarterback obviously is gathering all kinds of information and he’s really good at taking that information and putting them in a really good play,” Spagnuolo said. “That on top of the skill they have, we all know about the running back they added (Gibbs) and the receivers they have out there, et cetera, et cetera. That all packaged together, I think, is a really tough challenge for us.”
Spagnuolo also said he would put third-year Lion Amon-Ra St. Brown “way up there right now” in a conversation about the NFL’s best receivers.
“He’s a real challenge when you watch him on tape,” Spagnuolo said. “And you could see that last year there was a consistent effort to get him the football, and you’re only doing that if you’ve got tremendous belief in the person.”
nbianchi@detroitnews.com
Twitter/X: @nolanbianchi