Andrew Weber-USA TODAY Sports
After only one week, the Detroit Lions‘ game plan with Reggie Bush seems pretty clear – get him the ball early and often. They did just that in their week one victory over the Minnesota Vikings, as the prized free agent signing gained 191 yards from scrimmage and found the end zone on his way to a tremendous team debut. If you’re a Lions’ fan, everything went exactly how you thought it would for the speedy dual-threat back. But his performance didn’t come without a few bumps in the road, as Bush was reportedly banged up following the contest.
He dislocated his thumb and strained his groin, but head coach Jim Swartz says the minor injuries will not change the way Detroit plans to use its new weapon. Here’s what the head coach had to say when asked if the team would limit Bush to try and keep him healthy:
“No, we’re going to try and go win games and score points. Reggie’s a tough guy. I don’t know how many running backs touched the ball as many times as he did (Sunday) but anybody that did is probably experiencing the same kind of things.”
There are two ways to view this comment. On one hand, I don’t blame Swartz a bit for wanting to ride Bush as much as he can. After all, he is coaching for his job and anything short of a return to the playoffs could end his tenure in Detroit… On the other hand, it might not be the smartest move in the world to put a player with history of injuries at more risk than is necessary.
But ultimately, I like where Swartz’s head is at. His job is to coach the Lions to as many victories as possible and it’s very obvious the team will get plenty of them if Bush continues to play like he did in week one. Until the running back suffers a semi-serious injury, Detroit needs to continue to go full steam ahead with him.
Related:
Reggie Bush Will Lead Detroit Lions Back to the Playoffs in 2013
Follow Andrew Fisher on Twitter and Google
