Love, laugh, smash: Lions running backs forge strong bond through ability to relentlessly poke fun at each other

Allen Park — The time NFL players spend in the locker room during the heart of a weekday afternoon is akin to elementary school recess.

It’s a break between the grueling physical demands of practice or a weight room workout and the mental strain of the meeting room, where players can decompress however they see fit.

Some spend the time on their phones, a handful sneak in a game of table tennis, while others quietly converse with teammates about an unending array of topics. If you stand in one area, you might overhear a veteran explaining to a rookie the importance of getting checked for sleep apnea, or perhaps you’ll catch two veteran receivers from Detroit extolling the virtues of the coney dog to someone new to town.

But the noisiest section of the Detroit Lions locker room, without question, is the corner belonging to the running backs. The group of five is rambunctious and relentless with their banter and joking, most often at each others’ expense.

The public got a small taste of the dynamic when Jahmyr Gibbs was the guest for an episode of the “St. Brown Podcast.” During a rapid-fire series of questions, Gibbs was asked his funniest teammate. After a brief pause, he landed on practice squad running back Jermar Jefferson, but not without taking a stiff jab.