Bob Quinn expects Ameer Abdullah to be back for training camp

One of the biggest surprises this offseason for the Detroit Lions was the revelation running back Ameer Abdullah underwent shoulder surgery in January. The Lions running back did not miss any time during his rookie year due to the injury and a shoulder injury never appeared on the injury report. When the report of his injury finally broke in May, one source thought it may cause Abdullah to miss the entire offseason.

Detroit Lions running back Ameer Abdullah underwent surgery to repair a torn labrum in his shoulder in January and could miss the rest of the off-season, a person with knowledge of the procedure but not authorized to speak about it publicly told the Free Press today.

But Bob Quinn doesn’t appear to be too worried about the outlook of Abdullah’s injury. In an interview with DetroitLions.com’s Tori Petry, Quinn said he expects Abdullah to be ready by camp. "This spring was definitely trying at the running back position," Quinn said. "The good thing is we feel like all those players are going to be back for training camp."

The Lions have been pretty tight-lipped about Abdullah’s situation throughout the entire process. News of his January surgery didn’t even become public until late May. Since the report came out, head coach Jim Caldwell has been giving vague updates on Abdullah’s progress. "He’s moving well," Caldwell said last week. "He’s made a lot of strides just in terms of physically."

But Caldwell refused to give a timeline for his recovery. When asked when he expects to see Abdullah back on the practice field, Caldwell simply said, "We’ll see."

Although Quinn never directly addresses Abdullah during the interview, it appears he expects all of the Lions’ running backs to be healthy enough to practice by training camp, which begins on July 28. Stevan Ridley also sat out the last few days practices because of an undisclosed injury.