VAKI’S ROLE
Third-year running back Sione Vaki has made his biggest impact on special teams since arriving in Detroit.
With David Montgomery being traded to Houston this offseason and Isiah Pacheco starting the year on Reserve/Injured, Vaki has gotten a bigger opportunity to make plays on offense. We saw him have his most productive day in that role Sunday, averaging 4.3 yards per carry with a few first-down runs on six attempts. He also caught an 11-yard pass for a first down and was good stepping up and handling the Jets’ blitz in pass pro.
“Yeah, he comes to work every day, no matter what it is, that’s at running back, special teams,” Jahmyr Gibbs said of Vaki after the game. “He’s just everything for this team. So, I appreciate all the work he puts in.”
Campbell said after the game he feels Vaki getting better and better the more comfortable in the offense and the more reps he gets.
“I thought Vaki, man, really stepped up in there a couple times and did a heck of a job keeping the pocket clean,” Campbell said. “And then he had some real big runs for us. There’s nothing flashy about them, but the more we gain trust and he gains our trust, now we can really – that allows us to take a little something off of Gibbs here and keep him as fresh as he can be, but yet still use him for what we know he can be.”
