Running back D’Andre Swift played 33 offensive snaps when returned to the Lions lineup in Week Eight and head coach Dan Campbell said after the game that “wherever he can go, we’re going to let him go” in reference to Swift’s playing time in the weeks to come.
That suggested Swift would be in line for more playing time in the future, but things went the other way in Week Nine. Swift played 10 snaps in last Sunday’s win over the Packers and it appears the drop in playing time didn’t agree with him.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said on Thursday that Swift “got pissed off a little bit” about the way the snaps were doled out, but he didn’t make any promises about how things will go against the Bears this weekend.
“It’s a balance right now for him because once again he hasn’t felt 100 percent, and that’s been a big part of it is when he’s feeling good and it’s going to show up on Sunday in a positive way for us,” Johnson said, via Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “So, we’ll see. We’ll see as the week goes on in practice, we’ll see on Sunday as we get into the game just how much or how little we use him.”
Swift has been limited in practice this week due to the ankle and shoulder injuries that caused him to miss three games earlier this season, so it would seem he’s still not at the 100 percent level that Johnson and the Lions appear to be looking for before they cast off all restrictions on his usage.