Running back Ameer Abdullah wasn’t thrilled with the way he played in the team’s first preseason game against the Jets, but he was in the minority on that front.
Abdullah’s 67 yards on seven carries led Jets coach Todd Bowles to compare him to Barry Sanders in terms of quickness and several other people to predict big things in future outings. It’s hard to do much as a running back if you aren’t getting the ball, though, and Abdullah didn’t get the ball on Thursday night.
He ran twice for seven yards and returned a punt for no yards while playing a limited number of snaps against the Redskins.
“There was circumstances within the ballgame, just kind of the flow of things and how they go,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “There’ll be games like that, particularly when you’re only playing a limited amount of time.”
The fact that Abdullah played so sparingly bodes pretty well for him in the big picture. Matthew Stafford, Calvin Johnson and other key Lions offensive players were out of the game early and Abdullah joining them on the sideline suggests the team has seen enough of him to know that they want him in a big role come the regular season.