Lions' David Montgomery: Eyeing divisional-round return

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Montgomery plans to avoid surgery to address the MCL sprain in his right knee and will rehab the injury with the goal of returning for the divisional round of the playoffs, Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reports.

After Montgomery emerged from this past Sunday's 48-42 loss to the Bills with the knee injury, head coach Dan Campbell said Monday that the running back would require season-ending surgery. However, after Montgomery received three "high-level medical opinions" on his injury, per Rapoport, the consensus was that the 27-year-old would be able to avoid a procedure on the knee. Montgomery will still miss Detroit's final three games of the regular season and would also remain likely to miss the wild-card round, though that may be a moot point if the 12-2 Lions are able to secure a first-round bye in the playoffs. For whatever length of time Montgomery misses, Jahmyr Gibbs is poised to see as heightened role as Detroit's clear lead back, while Craig Reynolds and Sione Vaki could see more opportunities as backups to Gibbs.