Ameer Abdullah's Role in Lions Offense Will Expand, Says OC Jim Bob Cooter

The Detroit Lions run game is mustering a measly 69.6 yards per contest—by far an NFL worst.   

Of the Lions' four backs, rookie Ameer Abdullah is the only one who’s eclipsed 100 total yards, with 225. Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter—eyeing his second game on the job after the Lions fired Joe Lombardi following the team’s 1-6 start—was frank in his outlook for Abdullah, per Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press:

"

Ameer's role will be growing. I'd like to get him the ball, I'd like to get all of our guys the ball. Like we said, that week, the situation of that game didn't lend to a ton of runs once we got into a certain point in the game. Looking back, would've loved to have run the ball a little bit more and throw the ball to the backs. We got a lot of guys that want to touch the ball and that's a good thing.

"

Though Joique Bell entered training camp the starter, it was widely speculated Abdullah would supplant him early in the season. He had a strong showing in Week 1 but has battled fumble issues ever since—he’s put the ball on the ground four times in 63 carries, and he had just one carry and played five snaps in the Lions’ last game against the Kansas City Chiefs. 

	Games Played	Attempts	Rush Yards	Receiving Yards	Total Yards/Game	Total TDs
Ameer Abdullah	8	63	225	113	42.2	2
Joique Bell	5	30	99	55	30.8	1
Theo Riddick	8	17	63	348	51.4	2
Zach Zenner	6	17	60	11	1.8	0

Abdullah admitted his struggles to Michael Rothstein of ESPN.com while noting he has an optimistic outlook for the second half:

"

A couple things have been brought to my attention that I feel comfortable about. And there’s some things that I don’t feel comfortable about. So I can’t be too mad, can’t be too happy at all. Just got to keep working, got eight more games.

Hopefully, it’s a better eight.

"

Abdullah was a dark-horse prospect at the position in this year’s draft—behind blue chips Todd Gurley and Melvin Gordon—following a remarkable career at Nebraska, where he rushed for 4,588 career yards, including a pair of 1,600-yard seasons as an upperclassman, and 39 touchdowns in four seasons.

While the Lions may benefit coming off the bye, in Week 10 they face the NFC North-leading Green Bay Packers who are likely licking their chops at the chance to bounce back against the division cellar dwellers after losing two straight to a pair of unbeatens.