Pressers and scrums: Montgomery draws lofty comps, LaPorta trending toward playing and how Lions view LB Long

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Allen Park — The topic of the day on Wednesday was running back David Montgomery, who has quickly developed into one of the most respected players in the locker room in his season and a half with the squad. So much so that he earned a contract extension last month.

The conversation started with coach Dan Campbell, who was asked about the tandem of Montgomery and Jahmyr Gibbs in relation to another outstanding backfield duo from the coach’s past; Alvin Kamara and Mark Ingram in New Orleans.

Campbell said both pairs found ways to elevate each other, but what made them special was the bond they shared off the field.

“I think David and Gibbs are like brothers,” Campbell said. “I really do, and I think David’s big brother and he’s not going to let anybody mess with him. That’s his guy.

“Now, he’ll mess with him, and if he does something wrong he’s going to let him know, but he takes him under his wing and I think they’ve elevated each other. He’s made Gibbs better and I think it has helped him, too. And when you have that, and you have that competition, you have that love for one another, just the whole thing, to me, they’re the perfect combination. It doesn’t come any better, in my opinion. You’ve got everything you need out of those two players, run or pass game.”

The two are tracking toward a historic season, on pace for more than 3,000 yards from scrimmage and 32 touchdowns combined. Stylistically different, Montgomery does more damage between the tackles, where he’s proven time and time again he's difficult for the first defender to tackle.

Campbell was asked if Montgomery’s running style was reminiscent of another runner. The coach struggled to find a comparison, calling Montgomery a throwback, before reaching for a pair of Hall of Famers in Earl Campbell and Walter Payton, primarily because of the trio’s shared ability to stay on their feet.

“When I watch him, it just reminds me of some of the great ones, man, back in the heyday,” Campbell said. “I mean, they just, they don’t go down. So, freaking Earl Campbell, man, Earl Campbell ran like crazy. Walter Payton ran like crazy and would not go down. So, anyway, I think he’s rare. I think we’re fortunate to have him, and I can tell you this, the O-line loves blocking for that guy and anybody that plays with him, I mean, you want to talk about inspiring? That inspires you to want to block.”

Running backs coach Scottie Montgomery declined to offer his own comparison, defaulting to Campbell’s lofty choices. Still, I wanted to get the position coach’s perspective about what I feel is David Montgomery’s superpower, the ability to make tacklers miss in tight spaces.

The coach highlighted Montgomery’s contact balance and vision, the latter which is cultivated through film study, but emphasized the back's deceptive short-area quickness.

“Usually when you get up into the 215-220-225 (pounds), every time you go up, short-area quickness tends to drop a little bit. You can still be a big build-to-speed guy at that weight. But when you start to go up in weight, you start to lose some of this shiftiness. That's just God-given ability (he has) there that short-area quickness.”

“…And then, the final piece to all of that is, you're really, really good at short-area quickness when people are on their heels,” the coach continued. “He places people on their heels because of his ability to just run right through them." 

It's impressive how well the observation lines up with Montgomery's measurables coming out of Iowa State. He posted below-average speed and explosion numbers at the scouting combine, but an elite time in the 3-cone drill, highlighting his ability to change directions and accelerate.

Hey, we still do a podcast

The latest episode, recorded Wednesday afternoon, includes a locker room chat with rookie cornerback Terrion Arnold.

Pace yourself

We’re entering the heart of one of the most physically demanding stretches of every season for the Lions; the period around the annual Thanksgiving classic. Add in a primetime game the Thursday after the holiday and the team will end up playing four times in 18 days.

The team has been replacing its Wednesday practices with walkthroughs for the past three weeks. It's something the Lions have done previously under coach Dan Campbell, but not this frequently. I asked the coach about the importance of load management during this time of year, helping keep guys relatively fresh for the stretch run.

“Every year has been different for us, and you’ve got to go with what you feel like is best for your team in that moment,” Campbell said. “Every year, it’s kind of evolved. I mean, last year we were still going (full speed). We were still practicing pretty good Wednesdays, Thursdays, but we also had a different schedule. We were a little bit younger.”

Campbell went on to clarify that the team wasn’t old, but more mature, with most of the core having played together two or three years. That means dialing back during this stretch is an added benefit of organizational continuity.

“…We’re not old, but we’ve played a lot of football together, so they kind of know what to expect,” Campbell said. “(We’ve) played with each other long enough, the staff’s been together, myself, the whole thing. So I feel like it was something we can handle, and if you can handle it, it does help. I feel like it helps you bounce back just a little bit quicker for these games. It gives you just a little more juice.”

Campbell did note the internal expectation with going lighter on Wednesday is the effort and intensity run hot the remainder of the week.

“The flip side of that is, OK, but tomorrow when we come in, we’re smoking,” he said. Just like we did last week, that practice should look like game time. We were flying and we were competing, and it will.”

Good news on the injury front

Because the Lions conducted a walkthrough, Wednesday’s practice participation report was an estimation. Still, it was all good news, with every player listed as a full participant.

That included tight end Sam LaPorta, who missed last week’s game with a shoulder injury. Before the report published, Campbell said the young tight end was trending in a positive direction.

“It’s questionable to above for LaPorta,” Campbell said. “I think it’s trending the right way.”

LaPorta has struggled to match the production from his record-setting rookie season, but prior to suffering the shoulder injury against the Texans, he was having his best game of the year. He finished that contest with three grabs for 66 yards and a touchdown.

Stats to watch

Quarterback Jared Goff was asked which statistics he looks at, if any, to validate his performance. He highlighted two:

“I’m definitely aware of completion percentage and sacks,” Goff said. “Those are the two that really matter to me. The other stuff’s fun, too, obviously …but if my completion percentage is high and I’m not taking sacks, then we’re in pretty good shape.”

Goff is currently second in the NFL in completion percentage, connecting on a career-best 73.0% of his throws. As far as sacks, among QBs who have played in 10 or more games, his 18 are the fifth fewest.

More importantly, Pro Football Focus has only faulted Goff for one of the sacks. That’s a notable improvement from last season, when he was blamed for five.

Feeling the power

This offseason, defensive line coach Terrell Williams helped defensive end Josh Paschal establish and embrace an identity of physicality. The results have been clear as the third-year defensive lineman is having his best season.

I asked Williams about his process for helping a player discover what they do best and getting them to lean into it.

“You can watch the tape and you have an idea of what you want certain players to look like,” Williams said. “…I think part of it is knowing the body types and knowing what their skill set is. We’re all gonna play a certain way, with a certain toughness and grit and all of those things, but then you got to figure out what can each — because a lot of times, we talk as coaches — this player can’t do this, this player can’t do that — well, our job is to figure out what they can do. Whatever they do well, let’s figure out what they do well and then just continue to build on that. And I think we’ve been able to do that with Josh and a couple of the other guys.”

Paschal’s numbers don’t pop off the page - he has 15 tackles, four for a loss, and 2.0 sacks through eight games — but Williams raved about the player’s value that doesn’t show up in the boxscore.

“A lot of times, you may look at a stat line to try to figure out a story of how a guy’s playing,” Williams said. “I would put this player up against anyone in the run game, as far as what he’s doing. He doesn’t always make the tackle, but when you go and watch the tape, I guarantee you, our opponent knows exactly who he is and what he does to tight ends and tackles and all of those things.”

Premium insurance

The Lions added veteran linebacker David Long Jr. to the practice squad earlier this week. That’s an unusually high-level addition this time of year. The 28-year-old, six-year veteran is coming off a season where he racked up a career-high 113 tackles, including nine for a loss.

The Lions have lost linebackers Derrick Barnes, Alex Anzalone and Jalen Reeves-Maybin to injured reserve this season, but for now, the team will bring Long along slowly, figuring out how he can contribute.

“He’s banked a lot of reps and played really good football,” Campbell said. “He’s really one of those guys — (he’s) got a knack for finding the ball. He’s an aggressive player, run-and-hit. So, it gave us a chance to have somebody that, if we need it, and he can acclimate to what we do, how we do things here, get on top of the playbook, then if we can use him, we’ll use him.

“In the meantime, it’s special teams and it’s insurance, is really the role right now,” Campbell said. “We’re excited to have him here and just see what he can do, let him compete like everybody else.”

Putting in the work

The Lions officially activated Brodric Martin off injured reserve ahead of Wednesday’s practice. Expectations have been tempered at every turn for the former third-round pick, but Williams offered a positive update on the second-year player’s contributions behind the scenes.

“He’s done a good job,” Williams said. “I think he was the scout team player of the week this past week. He’s done a really good job for us, and so have the other guys that have been playing.

“…You guys know the standard that (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn) and (Campell) set here,” Williams said. “You’ve got to compete for a job. You don’t just walk in and jump right into the lineup. So we’ll see how the week goes and see where everything goes and go from there. But I like where he is right now. I like his mindset and he’s been doing a good job for us.”