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The Lions went back to their winning formula against the Bears, leaning on their backfield duo, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, to crush their divisional rivals, 52-21. Sonic and Knuckles combined for 151 rushing yards, averaging 6.6 yards per carry, and two touchdowns.<\/p>\n
Heading into their highly anticipated Monday night game against the Ravens, the Lions must continue their dominance on the ground if they’re to leave Baltimore with a victory. Luckily for them, their running back room could have all four of their backs in uniform on Sunday, with Sione Vaki potentially making his season debut.<\/p>\n
It looks like Vaki will be playing against the Ravens, with Dan Campbell seemingly indicating the second year back will return to action, per Jeremy Reisman of Pride of Detroit. Vaki, 24, has been dealing with a hamstring injury that he suffered in the second training camp practice.<\/p>\n
The injury lingered throughout preseason play, with Vaki appearing in only one of the four preseason games. While the severity of the injury was a concern for fans, the Lions decided not to place Vaki on the injured reserve, suggesting they believed he\u2019d be ready to go within four games.<\/p>\n
Although he missed all three practices before the game against the Packers, he was back as a limited participant leading up to their Week Two matchup against the Bears, and now, he\u2019s ready to go. Vaki currently serves as the fourth-string back behind Gibbs, Montgomery, and Craig Reynolds, and while he won\u2019t get much time on offense, his return will be a huge boost to the special teams.<\/p>\n
Since Gibbs and Montgomery make up for the majority of the snaps at tailback, Vaki spent the majority of his rookie season with the special teams. In this role, he leveraged his two-way experience from college, as a safety and running back, to become a crucial member of the special teams, recording seven tackles and 55 yards on two kickoff returns. For his performance, he received a 90.3 special teams grade per PFF.<\/p>\n
While having a part on a championship-caliber team is great, Vaki hopes he\u2019ll earn more snaps on the offensive side this season. Last year, Vaki made the most of his 28 offensive snaps, recording 14 rushing yards on six attempts, and three receptions for 37 yards.<\/p>\n
Although it\u2019s unlikely for Vaki to receive significant snaps while Gibbs and Montgomery are healthy, hopefully, he\u2019ll have an increased role because he was a fourth-round selection.<\/p>\n The Lions went back to their winning formula against the Bears, leaning on their backfield duo, Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery, to crush their divisional riv<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":32946,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32945","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-detroit-lions"],"yoast_head":"\n