It's been a long four weeks for D'Andre Swift, watching his team play without him. He wasn't about to make it five. Nor was Dan Campbell, who's ready to put Swift back on the field for the final two games of the season even if the Lions are playing for nothing but pride. Swift can worry about next year when next year comes.
"You can tell that he's comfortable and he's got his confidence up," Campbell said Friday. "He's ready. We were still getting him back in the flow last week. 'Do we think he'll be ready? Where is his shoulder?' This week, you know it. You can see it. You can feel it."
Swift hasn't played since spraining his right shoulder early in Detroit's loss to the Bears on Thanksgiving. Despite his absence, he still leads the team in rushing and still ranks among the NFL's top four running backs in receiving. He was having a breakout year before he got hurt. He said this week "it's been a rough four weeks being away from the team and the guys."
"I'm just grateful to get back out there and be able to play with them," he said.
Swift is slated to return Sunday in Seattle. For most of the fans, the Lions' top offensive weapon will be a welcome sight. He's already given his team a lift at practice this week.
"He's looked great all week," Campbell said. "He looks fresh is what he looks like, which is awesome. Sometimes I think you forget you're in Week 17 and when you see an athlete like Swift that's fresh, it's a sight for sore eyes. So he's ready to go. I know he's been wanting to go for a long time. He loves the game, he's competitive. It will be good to get him back."
The objection to Swift's return is that the risk of a setback isn't worth it for one of Detroit's core players in a pair of meaningless games, when he could have a couple extra weeks to heal heading into the offseason. The objection to that is that meaningless games don't exist.
"I feel like God put me on this earth for football, to play football and affect people around me," Swift said. "I love the game so much, so any opportunity I have, whether it's two games, one game, losing record, winning record, I'm gonna do my best to step my foot out there and play for my teammates. I just love the game so much, I'm just excited to be back and contribute in any way possible these last two games."
Swift is 14 yards shy of 1,000 scrimmage yards for the season. He's also 71 receiving yards shy of joining Austin Ekeler and Cordarrelle Patterson as one of only three running backs with at least 500 rushing and 500 receiving. He can still bring his breakout year over the finish line. But after being sidelined for Detroit's only two wins of the season, Swift is eyeing one thing down the stretch.
"First and foremost, I want to be able to experience a win with this team," he said. "I haven't experienced one with them this season. And then just looking to get better in every aspect of my game. Like coach said, 'I'm still learning. I'm still a young player looking to get better.'"
