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David Montgomery injury update: Lions RB seeking opinions on knee, could return in playoffs
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- David Montgomery injury update: Lions RB seeking opinions on knee, could return in playoffs
The Detroit Lions are in a holding pattern with David Montgomery 's MCL injury, and as head coach Dan Campbell said, "that's a positive."
Montgomery is seeking a third opinion on whether he needs surgery to repair the right knee injury he suffered in last Sunday's loss to the Buffalo Bills.
Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) runs for yards against Chicago Bears on Thanksgiving Day at Ford Field in Detroit on Thursday, Nov. 28, 2024.
If Montgomery undergoes surgery, something Campbell said Monday was happening , the veteran running back will miss the rest of the season, including the playoffs. If he opts to let the injury scar over and heal naturally, he could return at some point in the postseason.
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"We're in waiting mode here," Campbell said Wednesday.
The Lions left the door open for Montgomery's return by not placing him on injured reserve as part of a slew roster moves they made Tuesday, when they added Alim McNeill , Carlton Davis III and Khalil Dorsey to IR.
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McNeill tore his ACL and Dorsey broke his leg against the Bills – both are out for the year – and Davis broke his jaw and is hoping for a playoff return.
Montgomery leads the Lions with 12 rushing touchdowns and is second on the team with 775 yards through 14 games. Campbell said the Lions will lean on the opinion of doctors for how to proceed from here.
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"You have to," he said. "And it is one of these injuries that's unique because you need to know, is it stable? OK, is it fixed or will it scar? And then be certainly stable for now and for later. And then you got to rely on him like, 'Hey man, I'm good, I can do this.' And so it's a combination certainly of the doctors but him as well, where he thinks he can go with it and can he protect himself and play at a high level. And so we're in a holding patter, which as of right now, that's a positive."
The Lions plan to lean more heavily on Jahmyr Gibbs in the run game for the final three weeks of the regular season, though running backs coach Scottie Montgomery indicated Craig Reynolds , Sione Vaki and practice squad running back Jermar Jefferson also could see reps this Sunday against the Chicago Bears .
The Lions don't want to increase Gibbs' workload too much ahead of the playoffs, when they may need him to shoulder an even bigger workload.
Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery (5) runs for yards before being tackled Detroit during the game against the Buffalo Bills at Ford Field in Detroit Sunday, Dec. 15, 2024. Montgomery suffered an MCL injury to his right knee in the 48-42 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
As for David Montgomery, Scottie Montgomery said he visited the running back at his home Monday and was surprised to see him in good spirits.
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"As soon as I opened the door and I walk in, he was smiling," Scottie Montgomery said. "Some of his family members were there and it wasn't loom and doom, it was bright in there. The Christmas decorations were everywhere. He had his lights – he was very proud of his lights, by the way. His lights outside the home were beautiful, but he was very proud of it and he just, we were talking immediately.
"He didn't talk about the injury. We started talking about the game and started talking about some of the things that went on, some of the protection that he was able to still be able to get done in some of the situations that he had going on during the game. And it just continued to get a little bit more juice, a little bit more energy, a little bit more joy so by the time I left, I felt really good about where he was. I really thought he was going to be down in the dumps, a guy that has done it as hard as he's done it from February to now, you think that sometimes you can look at it as woe is me, he had none of that. So if he doesn't have any of it, none of the rest of us better have any of it."
Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, " Detroit Lions : An Illustrated Timeline." Order your copy here. Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Bluesky, X and Instagram at @davebirkett .
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: David Montgomery injury update: Could Lions RB return for playoffs?
