Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

Ameer Abdullah could have easily made a left turn for the sideline. In his first game back from January shoulder surgery, that might have been the wise thing to do.

If not out of bounds, Abdullah could have tried one of his patented stutter-steps, something like the move he shook Eric Weddle with on his first career carry last year.

But with Baltimore Ravens cornerback Jimmy Smith a few yards in front of him and a wall of defenders to his right, Abdullah lowered his head and lined up Smith to finish off an 11-yard gain in what likely was his last official carry of the preseason.

“I was just testing out some new things I put in the arsenal," Abdullah said Tuesday.

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Never known for his power as a runner, Abdullah has made no secret of the fact that he'd like to be the Lions' every-down running back this year.

That means he'd start in the Lions' base three-receiver set, he'd stay on the field for third down, and when the Lions need a goal-line carry or something from their jumbo package, he'd be counted on to deliver that, too.

Lions coach Jim Caldwell has always favored the running-back-by-committee approach, and he said Tuesday that won't change this fall.

"I think you have to spread it out a little bit," Caldwell said. "Backs take a lot of hits in the ball game, and so I don’t anticipate (we have) that kind of a guy that gets 30 carries in a ball game. I don’t perceive that. Even though maybe it could happen, it wouldn’t happen very often."

But Abdullah, at 5 feet 9 and 203 pounds, said he's ready for an increased workload after leading the Lions with 143 carries for 597 yards last year and can play "a very big role" in the red zone, too.

"I’ve always had a knack for scoring when I’m down there," Abdullah said. "I know I didn’t get a lot of that work last year, but if you go back to college, in the red zone, if I got the ball I was scoring a lot. So I hope to get an opportunity down there to prove to these coaches, to whoever is evaluating me that I can and I will score in the red zone."

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Last year, Abdullah scored two rushing touchdowns, a 24-yarder in the opener against the San Diego Chargers in which he left Weddle grasping for air in the open field, and a 15-yarder late in the season against the New Orleans Saints when he ran untouched into the end zone on a counter around the left end.

Mostly, when the Lions got in short-yardage or red-zone situations, they turned to Joique Bell or Zach Zenner, or used Theo Riddick as a receiver out of the backfield.

This year, the Lions have a similar collection of backs behind Abdullah in Riddick, Zenner and rookie Dwayne Washington.

"I think we’ve got enough guys that have a cross section of talent, and that we have to utilize what they do best," Caldwell said. "And I think we’ve got a little bit of everything there, or we will have when it’s all said and done."

There's no telling exactly how the Lions will divvy up the workload in their backfield based on the preseason as Abdullah sat out the first two games in a precautionary move to protect his shoulder.

In Saturday's loss to the Ravens, Abdullah got the first red-zone carry and scored on a 15-yard run only to have the play overturned by penalty. He never returned to the game as the Lions monitored his workload, and Riddick received the red-zone work the rest of the first half.

"We’re still going to be personnel driven in terms of how we approach it," Caldwell said. "And that often times depends upon who we’re playing against, what we think we can accomplish with particular sets with particular people. So I think you’ll see a cross section.”

Abdullah, by virtue of his standing as the Lions' No. 1 back, will be at the center of that cross section, and should have an opportunity to prove he deserves the expanded role he desires.

"Obviously, all of us wants to get the bulk of the carries," Abdullah said. "I’m going into the season hoping and expecting to get the bulk of the carries. But you never know how the game’s going. If the other person does, it really wouldn’t matter. Wouldn’t matter at all."

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Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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