By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) – As explosive running back who sometimes gets less attention than he merits due to the presence of a certain wide receiver, Reggie Bush is not on the field for every third down for the Detroit Lions.
Bush does not necessarily mind, either. For one, he appreciates the element of surprise. For another, he has confidence in his teammates to make plays just as well.
“We have a dynamic package,” Bush said. “We have a lot of good players on our team, and we have a lot of guys that can win, especially in man-to-man coverages. We feel like we utilize packages well. Obviously I can’t be there every third down, and I try to do my best when my number is called and when given opportunities.
“Honestly I think when you don’t key on a person, when you don’t just have a set person for your third downs, it makes it so much tougher on the defense,” Bush added. “If they were going to me every third down, then obviously the defense would be keying on me, and that would limit us. I like the fact that we spread it out and gives other guys a chance obviously.”
Bush also talked with Stony and Bill of 97.1 The Ticket about why he ducked out of the locker room after Sunday’s loss without talking to reporters, a task he often undertakes. Speculation was that Bush was so upset that the Lions let the game slip away that he did not want to speak to anyone, but that was evidently not the case.
“I was a little banged-up,” Bush explained, detailing his condition but waving off any suggestion of severity. “My neck was pretty stiff. Actually I couldn’t even hold my head up. It was pretty bad. It’s football.”
A USC grad and native of Spring Valley, Calif., Bush remembers some NFL games he watched growing up where injuries where a part of the fan experience as well as the actual game. Bush was a San Diego Chargers fan as a kid, and his dad worked at “the Murph” – Jack Murphy Stadium – and brought back horror stories of rivalry games with the Oakland Raiders.
“The Raiders were the most hated team,” Bush said. “Every time there was a Raiders-Chargers game, you always heard about people getting stabbed, people getting beat up, huge fights in the parking lots, all kinds of just crazy madness.”
