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Allen Park, Mich. -- Reggie Bush has what every NFL player wants -- a Super Bowl ring -- and he thinks the Lions have a chance to help him get another.
Bush, who signed a four-year, $14 million contract with the Lions in March, has already fielded questions about the Super Bowl from some of his new teammates.
"First of all, it takes everybody on this team willing and ready to do what it takes to get to the Super Bowl," Bush said. "Everybody has to get on the same page, we all have to be able to make sacrifices in our lives that are going to be necessary to get there. That's all across the board. It can't just be the players, it's gotta be coaches, it's gotta be front office, everybody has to play their parts.
"It starts there and it also starts with just having the right people who want to be here, who want to make a difference, who want to win. You'd be surprised, a lot of teams don't have guys like that. This is definitely a team that has that. It seems like everybody here is focused and really wants to get better and to make a difference here."
With his skills, Bush is expected to make a big difference in the Lions' running game, which was 23rd in the league last season with 100.8 yards a game.
"When he was in New Orleans, he carried the ball some and really made a ton of big plays catching the ball out of the backfield," quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "When he was in Miami, they hardly ever threw him the ball but they handed it off to him and he had 1,000 yards twice basically.
"So he's a guy that can do both. We're excited about that. I think he's a veteran guy that's bringing a lot of leadership to that room and the two younger guys are responding. It's good to see."
Bush, 28, had 1,086 yards rushing in 2011 and 986 yards rushing last season, scoring six touchdowns each year.
In his first five seasons with the New Orleans Saints, Bush had as many as 88 receptions (rookie season in 2006).
"I like whatever they want to give me," Bush said. "I've done both. I've experienced the 20-25 carries a game, I've experienced three carries a game where I'm catching balls more. I think this is going to be the best fit, best opportunity for me thus far in my career, at this stage in my career."
One thing Bush hopes to do is distract defenders away from receiver Calvin Johnson.
"For a running back like me, it's a dream come true," Bush said. "I love having a guy like that on my outside because I definitely feel like we're going to complement each other. I'm going to make his life a lot easier and I think he's going to make my life a lot easier."
People might have gotten a very different impression of Bush from his earlier years, when he was a fixture in the tabloids while dating reality show star Kim Kardashian.
The current edition of Bush has him doting on new daughter Briseis and fiancee Lilit Avagyan off the field, but doing extra work before and after practice on the field.
"I think when people get to know me, they find out that I'm not really Hollywood, I could care less about Hollywood," Bush said. "When it's work time, I come to work. I come to work and I come to do one thing and that's to win. I don't really have too much Hollywood in my personality. I'm just a real low-key, down-to-earth guy."
Coach Jim Schwartz called Bush "a great example for the other guys."
Bush feels like the Lions could be what the Saints were when they finally won the Super Bowl in 2009.
"I remember the year we won the Super Bowl in New Orleans, we had struggled the two-three years prior to that," Bush said. "The first year, we had some success, we got to the NFC championship game, and the next two years we struggled, so we had been together for a couple years and in that fourth year, all of a sudden, it just kind of clicked.
"I think this team has that chemistry of guys that have been here a couple years, they've been together, chemistry is here, now it's just about putting in the work ethic. Our attitude has to improve, leadership has to improve. We have all the guys here."
INJURY UPDATES
Cornerback Ron Bartell, who left practice early Saturday with a right shoulder injury, did not practice Sunday. Instead he iced his shoulder on the sideline.
"It was still sore today," Schwartz said. "We'll just take it day by day. Hopefully it's not serious at all. There are a lot of times in training camp you don't want to have guys to have to fight through things. Sometimes you gotta fight through fatigue, you gotta fight through a lot of other things. You don't want to fight through nicks and things like that. Give him a couple days and see how it goes. Right now he's still just day-to-day."
Fellow cornerback Jonte Green left practice early Sunday and had ice on his right hamstring on the sideline.
"His hamstring was a little tight early in practice," Schwartz said. "I thought he was practicing really well in the beginning. We'll see how that goes. It might just have been him cramping up a little bit, it might be a little bit of a strain, but it didn't look like it was any more than a day-to-day type thing."
Schwartz said they have talked to the players about trying to be more pre-emptive with injuries.
"We've had some situations in the past where a guy will tweak something and won't tell anybody and will try to push though and it makes it worse," Schwartz said. "One of the things we talked to them all about this year is trying to alleviate that by identifying right away and talking to the trainers. That way we can make decisions like we did with Jonte today and hopefully we can head it off at the pass and it's a one-day thing or two-day thing instead of a two-week thing."
Safety Louis Delmas participated in some seven-on-seven drills but then sat out the rest of practice. The team is trying to prevent Delmas' knees from acting up.
Linebacker Carmen Messina sat out practice also. Receiver Devin Thomas and guard Leroy Harris are on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list and defensive end Ronnell Lewis is still on the non-football injury list.
