D'Andre Swift sets high goals, needs to find 'that dawg' mentality with Lions
D’Andre Swift has his proverbial work cut out for him with the Detroit Lions. It’s an assignment he gave himself.
And tough love he receives each day from running backs coach Duce Staley.
You see, Swift gave himself a goal that only three other NFL running backs accomplished.
Not last season. Not this past decade. I’m talking ever.
Roger Craig did it in 1985, Marshall Faulk pulled it off in 1999, and Christian McCaffrey joined the club in 2019.
“A thousand, a thousand,” Swift told Detroit media last week.
That’s two separate thousands. On the ground, and as a receiver. Swift rushed for 1,138 yards already – but that’s through his first two NFL seasons combined.
He caught 108 balls for 809 yards in the same span.
So, yeah. This is statistically a hard goal to reach for the ‘Hard Knocks’ running back.
“(Running backs coach) Duce (Staley), the way he’s coaching me, what I can bring to this team, it can be done. He knows what it takes. He’s been in the position I’m in. He’s the type of coach that’s going to push me to my limits, and that’s the type of coach that I need.”
Duce Staley isn’t holding back from D’Andre Swift on this season of ‘Hard Knocks’ with the Lions
If anyone wants Swift to reach the summit of this lofty goal, it’s the former NFL running back.
He just needs his protégé to unlock something deep within himself.
He needs to find that Dawg in him.
“Man, listen, this is real: You can be the best in this league. You really can,” Staley told Swift on HBO’s ‘Hard Knocks’ with the Detroit Lions.
“But you gotta have that dog mentality, you gotta bring that sh*t out of you.”
Staley showed Swift a practice clip, in which the third-year back fails to finish a run. If he wants 1,000 NFL yards, he’ll have to find each one the hard way.
“You gotta do something, Swift. Because guess what? If you would have stiff-armed him right there, you might’ve fu*king scored. You make it too easy for him,” Staley said.
“They already scared of you when you get out there. Finish it! C’mon, man! Finish it!! Be hungry! Be greedy for every fu*king yard! Go get it! That’s the mentality: every yard out there is mine. Don’t be satisfied with that sh*t, man.”
It isn’t just tough love from Staley. He believes in the young back
D’Andre Swift’s goal may seem high to everyone outside of the Detroit Lions’ camp.
But Staley is on board.
“I love it. When I heard about it, I jumped through the roof. That’s good, too. You sit there, you see a kid like that, the talent that he has. He can definitely be a good one. And to set the goals that high, now, he’s challenging himself. Which I love,” Staley told reporters.
He also gushed over Swift – behind closed doors, to other Lions coaches – on that episode of ‘Hard Knocks.’
“(I’ve) been around some guys, some special ones in space,” Staley told them. “He’s got it.”
Swift knows a thing or two about hurdling over obstacles, dating back to his days with Georgia football.
If he and Staley have anything to say about it, he’s got quite the leap ahead of him this season.
