Getting the band back together?

After getting the news that Kevin Jones' foot injury could keep him out well into 2007, the Detroit Lions are now likely faced with scrambling for healthy running backs.

It will almost certainly affect their off-season plans. Selecting a running back early in the draft probably wasn't under consideration (though I think they definitely should've looked at taking one late, as I wasn't convinced K.J. was a long-term solution at the position). Nor was scouring the free-agent pickings. Now, that could be among the top priorities.

One option for the Lions, as reported in today's Detroit News by Mike O'Hara, could be asking Mike Martz to call up his old buddy Marshall Faulk and see if his sweet feet still have some juice in them.

Faulk is still under contract with St. Louis for two more seasons, but the Rams seem comfortably in the Steven Jackson business, and would probably prefer to cut ties and move on. While recovering from a knee injury that didn't pass a physical, Faulk has been biding his time as an analyst on NFL Network (and doing a fine job, I think).

Martz, as you might imagine, would relish the chance to score a key component of the "Greatest Show on Turf" for his Detroit offense. "I'd ride a bicycle to pick him up," he said to the Detroit News, before acknowledging that such a move really isn't up to him. (And considering the turnstile Martz has overseen at wide receiver this season, it might a good idea to keep the company credit card away from him.)

It would be intriguing to see how someone with Faulk's receiving skills (if he's still capable of playing, that is) could affect the Lions' offense. As impressive as Jones' numbers have been in the passing game, he's no Marshall Faulk. Perhaps no other running back ever has been.

Meanwhile, if any of this news has reached Faulk over at the NFL Total Access studios in Los Angeles, I'd have to think that the possibility of playing for the Detroit Lions has compelled Faulk to approach Rich Eisen and beg him (or anyone else on staff, really) to crush his toes with a ball-peen hammer.

Okay, maybe he should consider something decidedly less drastic, like calling Rams general manager Charley Armey in tears, pleading with him not to make such a deal. ("Please Charley - don't hurt me!") Or just giving the phone to Neon Deion whenever Martz showed up on Caller ID. If Faulk can do any impressions, this could be a good time to use those, too. ("Uh, hello - this is Kevin Faulk of the New England Patriots... ?")