Lions running back Ameer Abdullah was getting plenty of praise for his practice work heading into the team’s first preseason game against the Jets and he didn’t do anything to make that seem unjustified while running seven times for 67 yards.
The performance was good enough that Jets coach Todd Bowles said that Abdullah is “about as quick as Barry Sanders,” which is about as good a comparison as a rookie running back could hope to get. It’s also the kind of comparison that one might worry about going to a running back’s head, but that doesn’t appear to be a problem for Abdullah.
In a piece written for the Lions website, Abdullah proves to be a tough critic of his own work.
“I think my first preseason game went OK, borderline good, but by no means great,” Abdullah wrote. “I missed a lot of holes. I was a little rusty, but that’s what I expected getting back into game shape, seeing things at game speed again. There was definitely a lot to learn from. I have a good idea of how the competition will be across the league, what to expect on Sundays and Mondays.”
The Lions aren’t handing anything to Abdullah, who is behind Theo Riddick on the depth chart while Joique Bell continues to work toward his first on-field work of the summer, and one game is never going to be enough to hang your hat on in the NFL. If Abdullah’s “borderline good” work continues, however, it might not be long before the Lions reshuffle their backfield pecking order.