Lions' Ameer Abdullah fine with running game by committee

Detroit Lions running back Ameer Abdullah made what might have been his best move of the exhibition season this week.

But it didn't come against a loaded box and hulking linebackers. It was against a phalanx of reporters, and it happened on one particular question Abdullah handled as masterfully as he might have by juking a would-be tackler.

Abdullah is the unquestioned prized draft pick of this year's rookie class. He wowed Lions fans in the exhibition opener. But Abdullah's role in the run game remains unclear. He had three straight 1,000-yard seasons at Nebraska, and now it looks like he's headed toward a committee of running backs with Joique Bell and Theo Riddick.

That's a diet that might take some getting used to. And that's when Abdullah made his move.

"It's not really about me," he said. "I always hear a lot of questions like, 'How do you get used to it? How do you? How does Ameer adjust to things?' But at the end of the day, you've got to realize it's not about you.

"We have a lot of team-oriented goals for this team in the future. We want to be a playoff team. We want to go far into the playoffs. Taking that into account, there's certain things necessary to get that team there, and if that's to be a running back team by committee, I'm going to be that guy. And when I'm in, I'm going to make sure I make an impact."

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In one swift stroke of perfect articulation, Abdullah proved he's equally fleet of foot and mind. It's no wonder he graduated with a history degree in 31/ 2 years.

After an impressive performance in the exhibition opener, Abdullah had two carries and played seven snaps on offense at Washington. Offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi plans to give Abdullah more work in Friday's exhibition at Jacksonville.

Abdullah said he would do whatever is asked of him, but he's curious to see how he handles a heavier workload.

"It should be the first time I'm in there consistently for a while," he said. "Get to see different looks, different fronts and sustain that consistency through the game is what I'm looking for, making a couple plays. Most importantly, just being sound in my assignments, making sure I'm playing up to speed, finishing hard and getting a good test of where I am in my conditioning."

Despite barely playing last week, Abdullah gleaned information from coaches while on the sideline.

"One of the most important things my dad taught me is you're never as good as you think, you're never as bad as you think," he said. "So, that's something I always keep close to my heart when I take the field every day.

"Last week really helped me seeing it from the coaching perspective on the sidelines a lot, seeing things, seeing the big picture. I'm going to try to apply some of the things I learned last week seeing from the sidelines."

Speaking with Abdullah, you see he's always learning. He has picked the brains of Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate to learn how to run better routes.

"I'm grateful for that," he said. "Calvin's been helping me out a lot, Golden as well. So, I'm fortunate to have veterans like that who share their wisdom with me."

Likewise, he has gone to the other side of the ball to ask linebackers for help in dissecting his run game.

"Playing against DeAndre Levy, he's so smart, so smart," Abdullah said. "I feel like he's gotten the better end of those battles in practice. I'm trying to see where he's going to be, he's definitely trying to read where I'm going to be, and I'm just trying to play a little chess game with him. Maybe give him a dip here, go the other way, vice-versa.

"And it really helps you when you're going against guys like that, because they do look at tendencies. They look at where your eyes are. They look if he keeps the shoulders square. They're going to look if he's quick to cut it back or if he's going to stay on his reads. It really helps having smart players like Tully and DeAndre Levy give you those game-type looks in practice."

Contact Carlos Monarrez: cmonarrez@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @cmonarrez. Fantasy football expert Kevin Bull will answer your questions in a live chat at 11 a.m. Friday at freep.com/sports. Submit early questions here. Then come back for a live blog of the Lions-Jaguars exhibition Friday night. And check out our new Lions Xtra app on Apple and Android!

Exhibit C

What: Third exhibition game.

Matchup: Lions (11-5 in 2014, 1-1 exhibition) at Jaguars (3-13, 1-1).

When: 8 p.m. Friday.

Where: EverBank Field, Jacksonville, Fla.

TV: CBS (Channel 62 in Detroit).