Swift (ankle) wasn't spotted at practice Thursday, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.

EDGE Analysis

Swift also sat out Wednesday's session, so what the running back is able to do at practice Friday will be telling with regard to his chances of suiting up Sunday against the Commanders. If Swift is out or limited this weekend, Jamaal Williams, Craig Reynolds and Justin Jackson would be candidates for added backfield snaps.

Swift missed Wednesday's practice due to an ankle injury.

EDGE Analysis

During the media-access portion of the Lions' first session of Week 1, Swift wasn't participating, but the reason for his absence wasn't known at the time. He hasn't dealt with ankle issues during his two-plus years in the NFL, but he's missed seven games due to various health concerns to date. There's no telling if Swift's availability for Sunday's game against the Commanders is in jeopardy, but his status bears watching as the week goes on. Jamaal Williams would be the biggest beneficiary if Swift is limited or out this weekend.

Swift isn't practicing Wednesday, Kyle Meinke of MLive.com reports.

EDGE Analysis

The running back may have picked up an injury at some point in Sunday's 38-35 loss to the Eagles, though he piled up 175 yards and a touchdown and was still getting touches late in the fourth quarter. Any limitations for Swift would benefit backfield mate Jamaal Williams, who scored a pair of goal-line touchdowns in the Lions' season opener.

Swift rushed 15 times for 144 yards with one touchdown while catching three of three targets for 31 yards during Sunday's 38-35 loss to Philadelphia.

EDGE Analysis

Swift exploded out of the gate within an offense that now has an improved passing game in addition to its strong offensive line. While his touchdown upside will clearly be capped this season by Jamaal Williams, who saw four of give goal-line snaps while scoring twice, Swift saw all of the snaps on third down and over double the snaps of Williams overall. The result was 175 total yards for Swift, who still averaged over 6.7 yards per carry if you take out his game-high 50-yard scamper. The third-year pro will look to keep rolling in Week 2 at home against a respectable Commanders defense.

Swift is not expected to suit up in Saturday's preseason contest against the Colts, Justin Rogers of The Detroit News reports.

EDGE Analysis

Head coach Dan Campbell suggested Friday most of the team's key offensive starters would not play, so this isn't much of a surprise. Jamaal Williams also appears to be among the group of players not playing Saturday, meaning Justin Jackson, Craig Reynolds and Godwin Igwebuike should see extended workloads as the trio competes for one of the team's final roster spots.

Swift rushed four times for 20 yards and a touchdown in Friday's 27-23 preseason loss to the Falcons.

EDGE Analysis

Swift capped Detroit's opening drive with a nine-yard touchdown rush. That proved to be his final carry of the game, making for a short but effective showing to begin the preseason.

Swift got the day off Wednesday, seemingly as part of Detroit's plan to keep him healthy throughout the season, Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press reports.

EDGE Analysis

Between his four missed games with a shoulder injury late last season and the presence of two experienced backups (Jamaal Williams, Justin Jackson) on Detroit's roster, there's been talk of Swift's workload being scaled back. Reduced reps in camp may feed into that discussion, but it mostly just seems to be a matter of keeping Swift healthy and fresh. He's unquestioned as Detroit's lead back, though it is fair to question how much work he'll cede to his backups. Last year he played 67 percent of snaps in his 13 active games and averaged 11.6 carries and 4.8 receptions per contest, totaling 1,069 yards and seven TDs. In terms of per-game production, he was RB20 for standard leagues and RB10 for full PPR. The split shouldn't be as wide this year, though it won't be surprising if he continues to be spelled on early downs rather than late downs for the most part. Swift said he's feeling good and expects to return to practice in short order.

Head coach Dan Campbell expressed concern with Swift holding up under a large workload, Jeff Risdon of USA Today reports. "[Swift]'s got that ability, and so my gosh man, you want those guys out there every play, but ... I would like to see, if we get him out of camp, get his legs under him, get him in really good shape, like I said get the intensity, get the volume under him and then let's see where he looks like," Campbell said.

EDGE Analysis

Swift has missed time due to shoulder and groin injuries in both college and the pros, most recently missing part of last summer's training camp with a strained groin before sustaining an AC joint injury Week 12. This led the third-year running back to miss multiple games for a second consecutive season. While optimists can point to reports of Swift having bulked up over the offseason as reason to think his injury luck could improve, his head coach nonetheless is warranted in his concern about putting too heavy of a workload on his 5-foot-9 running back. With Jamaal Williams -- who saw double-digit touches in 11 of 13 games last year -- around for another year, the Lions have a quality veteran option that can help them avoid doing just that, but Swift is the unquestioned No. 1.

Swift appears to have added muscle this offseason, Tim Twentyman of the Lions' official site reports.

EDGE Analysis

This report is merely based on visual observations made at recent offseason practices, but any added muscle could probably be considered a positive sign for a 5-foot-9 running back who has missed at least three games in each of his first two professional seasons. While it's not fair to consider Swift "injury prone" this soon, it's possible that his fantasy value could be higher if he had not been slowed down by head and shoulder injuries in back-to-back years. After all, when not counting the games in which Swift was limited by injury in 2021, his 97.5 scrimmage yards per game would have ranked eighth among all running backs.

Swift ran for 30 yards and one touchdown on seven carries and caught four passes for 16 yards on five targets against Green Bay on Sunday.

EDGE Analysis

Swift again saw a limited workload from scrimmage, while Jamaal Williams saw 13 carries and Craig Reynolds took three. Williams produced 43 yards and Reynolds two, reinforcing the fact that Swift is clearly Detroit's best running back from scrimmage. Swift is an explosive runner and skilled pass catcher, so his fantasy upside could be enormous with enough of a workload. However, going back to his college days, Swift hasn't shown the ability to stay healthy as a workhorse back. He finishes his second season with 617 yards (4.1 YPC) and five touchdowns on the ground while catching 62 passes for 452 yards and two touchdowns on 78 targets (79.5 percent caught, 5.8 yards per target).