Jahmyr Gibbs was not on the field when the Detroit Lions opened training camp practice Wednesday in Allen Park, and Dan Campbell would only say the situation was something both sides were working through. Gibbs was also not listed among the injured players Campbell updated, leaving the reason for his absence unclear.
The absence matters because Gibbs became eligible for a contract extension in March, and the Lions have made clear they want to keep him. That combination gives Wednesday's missed practice extra weight at the start of camp, when every absence draws attention and every contract wrinkle can shape how a team plans its next move.
Campbell did not sound alarmed, but he did not close the door on a longer process either. “You guys know how we feel about Gibbs.... And so, we'll take this as it comes,” he said, later adding that, “This'll kind of continue. It'll come as it comes, I think that's the best way to say it.” He also said, “So, this is both sides working through something, and we'll take it as it comes, but that's what it is.”
Back in June, Gibbs framed the matter as something he was leaving to others. “I'm just letting my agent and (general manager) Brad (Holmes) and all them do all that right now,” he said then, adding that he was “just worried about the team and ball” and “just trying to hoop right now.” That makes the gap between the club's public desire to retain him and his quiet stance harder to read, because it is still not certain the absence had anything to do with a contract push at all.
What is clear is that the clock has already started on a player who was the No. 12 pick in the 2023 NFL Draft, and the running back market sits well above him with Saquon Barkley at $20.6 million annually, Christian McCaffrey at $19 million and De'Von Achane at $16 million. For now, the Lions are left waiting for Gibbs to rejoin practice and for the reason behind Wednesday's absence to become plain enough to matter.
