With Branch and Gibbs missing the last two games, the Lions are missing their top draft pick on both sides of the ball. Branch has been especially good this season as well, playing as one of the best playmakers in the league during the first month of the year. But he suffered an ankle injury in Green Bay and hasn’t played since.
Gibbs wasn’t nearly as good as Branch, but with Montgomery’s injury, he’s needed now more than ever. Gibbs is expected to start at running back on Sunday and carry a heavy load in the running game. “He’s going to have to take the biggest part of it,” head coach Dan Campbell said. “We’ll just have to see where he is. I’d like to say we want to be careful with him, but the fact is we need him. So we’ll go as far as he can take us here. We’ll try to be as good as we can smartest, but he has to go. And he’s ready.”
Gibbs ran for 80 yards on a single carry, but otherwise served as Montgomery’s complementary role by being more effective through the air. She claims she is ready for a bell cow role in Baltimore.
“I’ve been like this my whole life, so I guess it’s not really something I’m used to,” Gibbs said. “You don’t want too much (work). I don’t know how David lasted 32, it was crazy. I don’t know how he did it. But yes, I always take 18-20 (takes).
Paschal is also ready to return after missing the last four games with a knee injury.
“I feel like he’s gotten better every day,” Campbell said. – We clocked him last Friday and he looks pretty good. So I think we’ll probably get him here and it’s good to have him back. … He has versatility, because he can play with a big head, he can play three techniques, he can play one of the outside “backs” if necessary.
Injuries continue to plague the offensive line, however, as Jackson missed a second straight game at left guard, while right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai hasn’t played since Week 2 with a knee injury. Graham Glasgow played very well in place of Vaitai – so well, he might not even go anywhere with Detroit at full strength – while Kayode Awosika looks set for another start at left back.
