Another Alabama running back the Dallas Cowboys missed on

Dallas Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said on Thursday that Rico Dowdle would serve as the NFL team's " lead back " as it seeks to snap a four-game losing streak.

That seems a long way from having Derrick Henry or Jahmyr Gibbs .

The Cowboys have been catching heat for months over their running-back situation, and that criticism has been given credibility by Dallas' 2024 performance. Only one NFL team has fewer rushing yards than the Cowboys this season.

The outside noise – focused on the team's failure to sign Henry as an offseason free agent even though the former Alabama All-American lives in Dallas – got loud enough for Cowboys owner Jerry Jones to address that topic unprompted on a radio appearance last month.

Henry signed with the Baltimore Ravens in March after eight seasons with the Tennessee Titans, was the first player to reach 1,000 rushing yards in the NFL this season and leads the league with 12 rushing touchdowns.

"I don't know if he'd be having a career year in our situation," Jones said . "We don't run that type of offense at all. Derrick Henry didn't fit managing the (salary) cap."

On Thursday during an appearance on "The Richard Sherman Podcast," Gibbs said he thought he was heading to the Cowboys in the 2023 NFL Draft.

Instead, the Detroit Lions sprang a surprise that Gibbs has said " shocked " him by choosing the Alabama running back at No. 12.

"I knew they liked me," Gibbs said on the podcast, "but, like, you know, when you go on a visit, I mean, it seems like they all like you, so it was crazy. I knew for a fact that Dallas was going to get me at 26 if I was still there, and a couple other places, like Cincinnati, was going to get me. I think they was going to trade up at 18 or somewhere around that range, but I didn't think I was going to go 12. I ain't even going to lie."

Gibbs ran for 945 yards and 10 touchdowns on 182 carries and caught 52 passes for 316 yards and one touchdown in 15 regular-season games. He then scored a touchdown in each of the Lions' three playoff games as Detroit reached the NFC Championship Game for the first time since the 1991 season.

Gibbs finished fourth in the voting for the AP NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award and went to the Pro Bowl Games.

"Before I got drafted, I really knew nothing about Detroit," Gibbs said , "other than Calvin Johnson and Barry Sanders. I mean, I knew they was always losing, but that was really it, so I didn't know what to expect for a while when I went in.

"But Dan (Campbell)'s an unbelievable coach. He's a great person, too - more than a coach. I mean, he cares about his players, cares about winning. He's just, like, he's just passionate. He's always the same person. In media, to us, just wherever he is, he's always the same person. That's what I really like about him. The same with (Gibbs' Alabama coach Nick) Saban. He's always the same as well, so, I mean, both them guys are just, I think, what you see is what you get with them, and that's why I like them."

Gibbs ran for 926 yards and seven touchdowns on 151 carries and caught 44 passes for 444 yards and three touchdowns in his only season at Alabama. Gibbs played two seasons at Georgia Tech before joining the Crimson Tide in 2022.

"I mean, it was just rough, man, just losing," Gibbs said about his transfer. "My high school, I never really lost. And throughout my whole career, I didn't really lose, so it was just headspace. It was just, like, I was down. My sophomore year, I was down, and it didn't look to get any better. So, I'm like, I want to take an opportunity to see if I can, hopefully, try to win the championship and play for Saban. I mean, that's a crazy thing to do. I mean, not a lot of people have the opportunity to do that and witness his greatness while he was still there."

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Gibbs is not Detroit's lead back, as he might have been in Dallas had it lasted to the Cowboys' 2023 first-round pick. Instead, the Lions have paired Gibbs with David Montgomery as a running-back tandem.

This season, Gibbs has 727 yards and seven touchdowns on 122 carries and 202 yards and one touchdown on 22 receptions, and Montgomery has 520 yards and eight touchdowns on 122 carries and 185 yards on 18 receptions.

"Me and D-Mo, man, that's my brother," Gibbs said . "Ever since I've been there, he's showed nothing but love. Very selfless. Whenever he does good, I do good, and we're both happy for each other."

The running backs have gotten a new nickname this season that Gibbs thinks fits.

"We didn't really like Thunder and Lightning," Gibbs said . "That's weak. That's old. So we was on Twitter, I think, ... but we just seen Sonic and Knuckles. It was, like, I mean, that's pretty cool. I mean, that's a unique one. You don't really hear that. I've never heard that for a group or two people, so we really stuck with that. And right now, it's really rolling."

With the best record in the NFC at 8-1, the Lions play the Jacksonville Jaguars at noon CST Sunday at Ford Field in Detroit.

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