ALLEN PARK -- The Detroit Lions would love to get the ball in David Montgomery’s hands more. But they are also aware there are a ton of mouths to feed, including star backfield mate Jahmyr Gibbs.
David Montgomery was limited to only four carries last week, playing a season-low 17 offensive snaps. Gibbs had 17 carries across 37 snaps, including an opening drive where he touched the ball a whopping 10 times against the Kansas City Chiefs.
“Well, I think that’s something that I always try to look at,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “We certainly don’t want him – either one of them getting too much. But I know that it’s a little more tilted towards ‘Jah’ right now. And a lot of that comes in the two-minute reps that we get.
“Now, the other day we only had six of them, but a lot of times that’s where that goes because he’s normally in on that, and that can skew it. But I don’t feel like we’ve gotten Jah too much in a game yet necessarily. I think he like 36 or 37 snaps the other night. And so, I feel pretty good. But as far as balancing them out, I would like to balance them out. I would. I would like to give David some more.”
Campbell wants to find more for Montgomery, but he said the flow of the game and some situations dictated the share. They hoped to get David Montgomery more touches in the second half, but they were fighting from behind, and they never had a second-half drive go for more than eight plays.
David Montgomery had only four carries for 24 yards against the Chiefs. He caught two screen passes for 37 yards, with his final touch coming near the end of the third quarter.
And to the team’s point, Gibbs had nine rushes in the first quarter alone, then only eight the rest of the game, including just one in the fourth quarter.
“Listen, we always have a plan to try to get guys an equal amount of balls,” Lions offensive coordinator John Morton said. “I mean, we didn’t have enough plays last week. We only had like seven or eight series. That’s what happens in the game. As the game goes, it just so happens it had to be that way.
“It’s not like we’re going in, ‘You’re not getting this, you’re not getting that.’ Every game is different, I’ve told you guys. It might be D-Mo this time, it might be Gibbs the next time. It might be somebody else. That’s just the way it goes.”
Gibbs has 87 rush attempts for 390 yards and four touchdowns, while David Montgomery has 65 carries for 334 yards and four touchdowns through six games.
David Montgomery’s snap share has consistently been between 30% and 39% this season, with his busiest day coming against the Bengals in his native Cincinnati. Gibbs’ share of the offensive plays has dipped below 55% only once, and that was in Cincinnati with David Montgomery carrying the load.
Morton reiterated that they will continue to change things up and go with the flow of the game when divvying the touches between the one-two punch.
“Our guys are unselfish, that’s the beauty of it,” Morton said. “There’s not a lot of pressure for that, to get that done.”
And while Scottie Montgomery has shifted to coaching from running backs to wide receivers. The team’s assistant head coach is well-versed in any discussions when it comes to splitting the workload between Gibbs and David Montgomery.
He’s been dealing with those questions since Gibbs was drafted in the first round back in 2023. There is always the question of trying to keep both fresh for the long haul.
So, when David Montgomery went down with a knee injury late last season, the Lions found themselves riding Gibbs to the finish line. The 23-year-old running back starred in the role, finishing as the NFL’s touchdown leader. Gibbs handled 250 carries, 11th in the league, despite opening as the starting running back only four times.
Through two-plus seasons together, Gibbs and David Montgomery have combined for 4,871 rushing yards and 59 touchdowns on the ground. Gibbs gets labeled as the explosive playmaker. The veteran gets the power back label, which he hates. But the Lions feel each doesn’t get enough credit for their all-around ability to handle any task necessary.
Gibbs has been the starting running back on the first drive for all six games this season. But much like when David Montgomery was getting the first crack, the Lions are cognizant about feeding both. Gibbs has all the talent in the world, looking like a true superstar running back in the making.
But David Montgomery remains a vital piece of this offense, and the Lions are well aware he is deserving and needs a piece of the pie. As things stand, the pair of Lions running backs are tied for an NFL record by each scoring in the same game 14 times.
“I haven’t even noticed (the split) -- is it not the exact same?” Scottie Montgomery said, before clarifying that he was joking. “Coach (Campbell) addressed it already. There are definitely things we can do to make sure that that kind of evens out. I think you will start to see a little bit more of those things. I do have my history -- the way that I did it and kind of put it together in ways that were really ridiculed, as well. Right?
“(They would say) ‘No, this guy needs to be getting this amount of snaps and this amount of snaps, and this guy doesn’t need to be getting this amount of snaps.’”
The assistant head coach then stepped away from the lectern, lifted up his hooded sweatshirt to reveal a “Sonic and Knuckles” shirt in support of the team’s running back duo.
“So, there is balance in kind of both of these guys, and both of these guys are getting their touches because David makes ‘Jah’ better and ‘Jah’ makes him better,” Scottie Montgomery said.
If you purchase a product or register for an account through a link on our site, we may receive compensation. By using this site, you consent to our User Agreement and agree that your clicks, interactions, and personal information may be collected, recorded, and/or stored by us and social media and other third-party partners in accordance with our Privacy Policy.