DETROIT -- After a career-high 29 carries for 156 rushing yards and two touchdowns -- to go with five receptions for 30 receiving yards -- Detroit Lions running back Jahmyr Gibbs said he felt "fine" physically after Sunday's opener.
But there were questions about his heavy workload as he embraces his new role this season with David Montgomery now in Houston.
The sea of reporters around Gibbs' locker after the Lions' 31-30 win over the New Orleans Saints even left him briefly startled.
"Woah," Gibbs said.
Under first-year offensive coordinator Drew Petzing, Gibbs remains unsure if such usage is sustainable going forward, but he said he's unbothered either way.
"It doesn't matter to me," said Gibbs, who signed a three-year, $67.5 million extension in training camp, a record for a running back. "I'm just trying to help the team win no matter what that looks like."
Lions coach Dan Campbell, meanwhile, said he doesn't see Gibbs' workload Sunday as ideal but will do whatever is necessary to win.
"You know what I like? Winning the game, man," Campbell said. "And that guy's our hot hand and ultimately, do I want to set records with how many carries? No. That's not something I want to do.
"He's in the best shape I've seen him in since he's been here. So, now, that doesn't mean we're not going to monitor and we're going to keep an eye on this guy because we understand that, too. But we did what we had to do today."
Gibbs scored his first touchdown on a 1-yard run up the middle at 3:41 of the first quarter, then helped Detroit take a 14-0 lead at 11:18 of the third with another 1-yard TD. That gave Gibbs his 51st career TD in his 50th career game. He also became the sixth player in NFL history to reach at least 50 career touchdowns in 50 or fewer games, joining Chuck Foreman (44 games), Steve Van Buren (45), Jim Brown (46), Larry Johnson (48) and Marcus Allen (49), per ESPN Research.
Gibbs joined Billy Sims in 1980 as the only Lions players with 150-plus rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a season opener.
Campbell, though, said he believes there's room for improvement.
"I thought it was a very promising Week 1," he said. "And certainly, we know what Gibbs is and what he's capable of, and he's still not there yet. And I mean that in a good way. I'm telling you, we were this close to breaking three or four more of these, like breaking them wide open. I mean, shoestring away."
Gibbs said he doesn't have a set number of carries he wants to reach to stay fresh throughout the season, and he won't shy away from the new role.
Before the game, he sent an encouraging text message to Montgomery, who had three TDs in his Texans debut Sunday.
"I told him, 'Good luck.' He told me, 'Good luck,' before the game," Gibbs said. "I was happy for him. I was looking at the stats to see how he was hooping, but we'll talk about it later."
