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EspañolThe Detroit Lions' "Sonic and Knuckles" backfield is no more, as the team is set to trade veteran running back David Montgomery to the Houston Texans.
Jahmyr Gibbs – the "Sonic" end of what has been one of the NFL's best backfield tandems over the last few seasons – took time to mourn the departure of his teammate on social media.
Gibbs posted to his Instagram story an image featuring Sonic and Knuckles, two of the main characters from Sega's "Sonic the Hedgehog" video game series, walking away from one another with tears in their eyes. The 23-year-old captioned the photo with a single broken heart emoji.
Below is a look at Gibbs' post, courtesy of NFL Media's Tom Pelissero.
Montgomery shared a similarly emotional response to his departure from Detroit on his Instagram shortly after the trade was reported.
"It's hard to find the right words for a goodbye like this," Montgomery wrote, in part. "Detroit has never just been a location to me – it's been a community. And you all have been more than supporters or a team. You've been steady hands, loud cheers, honest feedback, and quiet strength when I needed it most."
"I'm beyond grateful," he later added, "and I'll always be proud to say I was shaped by this city and by you."
Montgomery's departure was the subject of trade rumors ahead of free agency, and general manager Brad Holmes noted the situation with the veteran running back was "fluid" at the 2026 NFL Scouting Combine.
"We’d love to have him. Kind of want to put last year in the rearview and just move forward," Holmes said at a Feb. 24 media availability. "But obviously, a player has to want to be at a certain place as well. So those conversations are still fluid and we’ll just kind of see how it goes."
While Montgomery's comments indicate he loved Detroit, his role with the team was diminishing. He played second-fiddle to Gibbs throughout the 2025 NFL season, failing to start a game for the first time in his seven-year NFL career while handling a career-low 158 rushing attempts.
Now, Montgomery will look to establish himself as the backfield leader for the Texans, whose running backs averaged a collective 3.8 yards per carry last season.
Meanwhile, Gibbs will navigate his first-ever season without Montgomery as his bruising counterpart as the 2023 first-round pick looks to build on his 1,839-yard, 18-touchdown campaign.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jahmyr Gibbs reacts to David Montgomery trade with Sonic-themed post