Lions running back Reggie Bush caught a short pass and turned it into a 67-yard gain in Thursday’s preseason game against the Patriots. But he said afterward that he was disappointed in himself for failing to turn it into an 80-yard touchdown.
Bush was run down at the 13-yard line by Patriots cornerback Kyle Arrington, and that led to some talk that Bush was getting winded, or maybe he isn’t quite as fast now as he was when he first entered the league.
“I was pretty upset that I got caught,” Bush said, via ESPN.com.
Bush, however, explained that the reason Arrington could catch him was the he slowed down on the play. After Bush ran past the first wave of blockers, he saw two Patriots defensive backs to beat up ahead of him, and he tried to give tight end Brandon Pettigrew and receiver Patrick Edwards time to block those two. Unfortunately, that gave Arrington the time he needed to run Bush down.
“The offensive line did a great job getting out there hustling and getting some blocks for me then springing me loose,” Bush said. “I was kind of waiting on the blocks down the field and Pettigrew was in front of me, Edwards was also in front of me. They were blocking so I was kind of slow playing and letting them make their blocks and I should’ve just took off and just ran. Nevertheless, I thought it was a good play and it gave us a lot of momentum early on.”
One of the most athletic plays of Bush’s NFL career came when he hurdled Arrington in a 2011 game between the Dolphins and Patriots. This time around it was Arrington making the athletic play. But that doesn’t mean Bush has lost a step.