Dan Campbell: D'Andre Swift 'Concerns Me'
The National Football League shortened its preseason to three games, after cancelling the entire preseason last season.
For NFL teams, the balance of getting ready for the season and resting players has become more of a challenge.
Several teams have already made the decision to not play starters that they can ill-afford to lose for a significant period of time.
For the Lions, that could mean that players like Jared Goff, T.J. Hockenson and D'Andre Swift will end up not having played in a live game in about a month.
At his pre-practice media session on Tuesday, Campbell addressed his concern level for the players who have not played much in the preseason.
"It is a little tricky, and I do worry about it a little bit. (T.J.) Hockenson doesn't worry me as much, because he really got a good two weeks of training camp. So, he's got a good base under him," Campbell said. "He can get to where we need him to get to relatively quickly."
Campbell added, "The ones that concern me a little bit are the ones that haven't gotten much practice. (D'Andre) Swift, he concerns me a little bit. Getting his wind back and being able to take a load. How much can he? Where's he at? He'll be out here today, too."
Swift missed a portion of his first training camp a year ago, dealing with a hip injury, and again missed time this year dealing with a groin injury.
"If it was up to me, I’ll play in any aspect I can play," Swift told reporters last week. "If they want me to play, I’m going to play. You only get but so many -- I don’t know how many chances I get to play this game that I love. So, every opportunity I get, I’m going to take advantage of it."
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For Campbell and the coaching staff, there just is a certain level of uncertainty regarding how much Swift can handle due to his unavailability.
"We don't know if he is going to be there. We don't know even if he is, how much are we going to be able to get out of him. Until we can get him out to practice on a consistent basis, we won't know that. So, that's really the truth of it."
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