Detroit Lions’ D’Andre Swift ‘alright’ to play Sunday

Detroit Lions second-year running back D’Andre Swift has said that he will join the team when they host the Washington Commanders this Sunday. Swift was briefly sidelined due to an ankle injury and missed out on his second consecutive practice session with the team.

“I’m alright,” the 23-year-old told ESPN’s reporter Eric Woodyard Thursday, adding that he “most definitely” would play the Commanders at Ford Field.

Earlier in Week 1’s 38-35 defeat to the Philadelphia Eagles, Swift led the team in rushing with 15 attempts for 144 yards, despite having rolled his ankle in the first leg of the game. His rushing stats marked his career-best, making him close to becoming the third player in the Lions’ history to make 100 rushing yards in the first two games, placing him along the likes of Billy Sims (1980) and Barry Sanders (1996).

Since his arrival in Detroit in the second round of the 2020 draft as the 35th overall pick, Swift has appeared in a total of 26 games. Last season, Swift was joined by former Green Bay Packers RB Jamaal Williams to amp up the Lions’ offensive backline. Swift started in four out of 13 games played and made 151 rushing attempts for 617 yards, a significant stats increase compared to his rookie year at 114 rushing attempts for 521 yards in 13 games.

Having Swift play in Week 2 means that head coach Dan Campbell would not need much adjustment to his poor defense, which was very noticeable when the team played the Eagles.

“Very aware of what you do to your defense when you don’t get one of those, but I have a lot of faith in them that they’re going to find a way to get a stop,” Campbell said.

“I mean, look, obviously hindsight it’s like, ‘Well, it didn’t work. Well, hell, we shouldn’t have done that,’ that is an easy thing to say.”