The Lions give playing time to several different running backs, but Joique Bell is clearly at the top of the pecking order with 210 of the team’s 373 rushing attempts this season.
No other back has more than 71 carries, so the Lions would have to seriously boost someone’s role in the event that Bell isn’t able to play against the Packers on Sunday. Coach Jim Caldwell left that possibility open on Thursday.
Bell was a participant in practice after being listed as limited by an Achilles injury on Wednesday’s injury report, but Caldwell only said, via Tim Twentyman of the team’s website, that “we’ll see” when asked if Bell would be able to be in the lineup on Sunday. Bell missed one game earlier this year with a concussion and George Winn saw the most carries, although Reggie Bush and Theo Riddick would also be options for bigger roles if Bell were to miss another game.
Bell’s the only big injury concern for the Lions this week. Defensive tackle Nick Fairley was the only player to miss practice and it seems unlikely that he’ll be returning after missing the last seven games with a knee injury.