ALLEN PARK -- Ameer Abdullah's benching appears to be temporary.

"I do (expect him to play Saturday)," coach Jim Caldwell said, "as long as things keep trending in the right direction. But I think he's ready to go."

What remains unclear, though, is the role that awaits him against the Bears. Because Caldwell isn't saying, nor is Jim Bob Cooter, and Abdullah himself seems to have no idea what to expect.

"We're going to continue to proceed how Coach Caldwell wants things to be proceeded," he said, "and I'm going to just do my best."

Abdullah led the Lions in rushing as a rookie in 2015, then won the No. 1 role heading into 2016. He played only two games that year because of injury, but Caldwell and GM Bob Quinn affirmed he remained the top back heading in 2017.

He started the first 11 games of the season, too. But despite repeated claims by coaches that the running game was close to a breakthrough, it never arrived.

The Lions currently rank last in the league in rushing, at 76.3 yards per game. If that doesn't change in the last three games of the season, they'll finish dead last in two of Abdullah's three seasons. And ironically enough, the lone exception would be 2016, when he played just twice.

"It's always going to fall on me and rightfully so," Abdullah said. "I've always got to be productive."

But any fair viewing of the film would suggest poor offensive line play has been at least as much to blame. Advanced metrics from Football Outsiders rank the Lions' run blocking as the worst in the league. According to sensors the NFL has put in shoulder pads this season, Detroit's backs average minus-0.3 yards before defenders close to within 1 yard of them. That's 30th.

In other words, the Lions are getting some of the worst push in the game.

Abdullah has been able to dance out of some of the traffic. He's averaging 2.67 yards after first contract, which is 11th in the league. Pretty good. But the Lions benched him anyway, even though he was healthy enough to play against Tampa. So it'll be interesting to see how they use him in his return.

Theo Riddick started last week, and finished with 93 yards and 16 offensive touches, plus rushed for two touchdowns. Zach Zenner is a better pass protector than Abdullah, and the club seems interested in playing Tion Green to determine what exactly they have in the undrafted rookie.

For the first time, Cooter would not commit to Abdullah as being Detroit's No. 1 rusher.

"I'm not into ranking guys in the media," Cooter said. "Obviously we're working through trying to run the ball better. That's on our entire offense, all 11 on the field, all us coaches, me being the leader of that. So, we got some getting better to do when we run the football, but I'm excited to get Ameer back on the field. He's a good football player, and we like good football players."

It seems no one in Detroit is interested in disclosing what exactly they think of their third-year back, or what to expect from him going forward.

"He's been a good player for us before, and I think he can help our offense get better," Cooter said, not answering the question. "We're excited to get him back. I'm sure he's excited to be back, if and when that is this Saturday. Ready to get rolling with him."