Lions QB Jared Goff having sneaky rushing success: ‘It was just absolutely amazing’

One a game.

That’s how many first downs Detroit Lions quarterback Jared Goff aims to steal with his legs, and so far that’s what he’s delivered.

Goff scrambled for 7 yards on a third-and-6 in the fourth quarter of the Lions’ Week 1 win over the Los Angeles Rams, had a 3-yard run on a third-and-2 late in the first half of their Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and closed out last week’s win over the Arizona Cardinals with an 8-yard keeper on second-and-7 that allowed the Lions to take two kneeldowns snaps to end the game.

“The one run, it was just absolutely amazing,” Lions running backs coach Scottie Montgomery joked Thursday at the team’s practice facility in Allen Park. “You don’t get a chance to see many runs like that. I know the run you guys think I’m talking about, I’m talking about Jared Goff’s run at the end of the game. Closing the game with a big-time throw and a big-time run like that, I gave the backs hell like, ‘How can you be outdone in that section right there by J.G.?’ And he did, he did a hell of a job right there and he got down. Probably the only thing that was more impressive was that first down signal that he threw up right there. I’ve never seen him show that type of emotion in that setting.”

Goff doesn’t offer much in the way of mobility as a quarterback.

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He has topped 100 yards rushing in a season once in his career, in 2018 when he finished with 108 yards, and last year had 21 yards rushing and two touchdowns in 17 games.

While some top quarterbacks (Josh Allen, Lamar Jackson, Jalen Hurts) have built-in rushing packages in their offense and others (Patrick Mahomes, Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert) use their legs mostly to create plays in the pocket, Goff said he spends time working on his running by, well, running.

“If you don’t run, you’ll lose it,” Goff said Thursday. “And I’m not getting any younger and as time goes on, you’re fighting that battle of making sure you’re still running — especially as a quarterback. Running and actively running and doing it in the offseason, doing it in-season because at practice I really don’t, so I have to actively put myself into some drills that make me run and get those fibers and those fast-twitch muscles going — as many as I have.”

The Lions rank fourth in the NFL in rushing (163 yards per game) through three games, and have one of the league’s best backfield tandems in Jahmyr Gibbs and David Montgomery.

They don’t have many designed quarterback runs for Goff in their offense, and the ones they do are either sneaks or caught-you-sleeping type plays. But Goff has improvised his way to all three of his first downs this year.

Against the Rams, Goff dropped back to pass out of shotgun and had a five-man route concept downfield. With no one open and protection starting to breakdown, he scrambled up the middle and veered to his right, where he picked up a block from Sam LaPorta and had just enough speed to outrun safety Quentin Lake for a first down.

Against the Bucs, Goff carried twice on back-to-back plays during a two-minute drill late in the first half. On his second carry, Goff faked a handoff to Gibbs in the backfield, rolled right, got another good block from LaPorta and tucked the ball with no receivers open on that side of the field.

Last week against the Cardinals, Goff bootlegged to his right and took off for the sticks after defensive end Dennis Gardeck crashed hard after the run. Most of the Arizona secondary had their backs turned in man coverage.

Goff said he was at “peak speed” when he ran a 4.82-second 40-yard dash at the NFL combine in 2016, and while he admittedly probably couldn’t top that time now, he’s enjoying the small gains as a rusher that are big wins for the Lions.

“I’ve been hiding (my speed) for eight years and now in my ninth I’ve decided to pull it out,” he said. “No, we do joke about it, but I do think if I can get one a game, one first down with my legs a game, maybe it’s two, that’s kind of a big thing for us. One third down, if I can scramble and pick one up. I’ve gotten one in the first three games, so I try to that every game, find a way to get one and it certainly helps us.”

Dave Birkett is the author of the new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline.” Preorder it now from Reedy Press.

Contact him at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.