AP

The Lions didn’t waver from their plan to have Joique Bell be a big part of their backfield when he was recovering from offseason surgeries on his knee and Achilles and they didn’t waver from it when rookie Ameer Abdullah was starring during the preseason, but coach Jim Caldwell is starting to hear questions about how long the team is going to stick with Bell after a dismal start to the regular season.

Bell has run for 22 yards on 20 carries over the first three weeks and has been stopped for a yard or less on 16 of those 20 carries, numbers that speak to both his struggles and the overall failure of the Lions to establish their run game so far this year. On Monday, Caldwell defended Bell by saying it was “your observation” in response to a question about Bell looking hurt or slow against Denver on Sunday night and stressing that he still has confidence in last year’s leading rusher.

“He’s not quite where he used to be, or where he was last year,” Caldwell said, via the Detroit Free Press. “But I think he’ll get there.”

At 0-3, the Lions are headed in the wrong direction this season. If Bell isn’t part of a quick turnaround, there won’t be much reason for the team to continue feeding him the ball when they can see what Abdullah and Theo Riddick might have to offer for better seasons in 2016 and beyond.