DETROIT LIONS DAILY UPDATE FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15, 2007! Including transcripts of OC Mike Martz (he talks about KJ being back for week 1) and DC Joe Barry!

NEWS The Lions completed their 20th day of training camp today and their final day of two-a-day practices. The team practiced in the morning with full pads on

NEWS

• The Lions completed their 20th day of training camp today and their final day of two-a-day practices. The team practiced in the morning with full pads on the outdoor fields and held a walkthrough session in the afternoon on the indoor fields in helmets and shorts.
• The team announced today that they have signed P Micah Knorr and placed FB Alan Ricard on the Reserved/Injured list. Knorr last punted for Denver in 2004. He went to camp with the New York Jets and Denver Broncos in 2005 and 2006 respectively. Ricard signed with Detroit July 30. He played five years with the Baltimore Ravens (2001-05) before being released during the 2006 preseason.
• WR Devale Ellis, RB Kevin Jones and DT Shaun Rogers remain on the PUP list and did not practice today.
• The Detroit Lions will continue their 2007 preseason this week at Cleveland Browns Stadium when they face the Browns at 7:00 p.m. EDT. Saturday's game will be the 39th meeting in what has been dubbed the Great Lakes Classic between the two teams. The Lions enter the 'Dawg Pound' looking to build off their preseason opening 27-26 victory against the Bengals while Cleveland began their preseason with a 16-12 win at home against the Kansas City Chiefs. Next week's game will be televised live in Metro Detroit on WKBD-TV UPN Channel 50 with Frank Beckmann handling play-by-play, former Lions QB Erik Kramer adding color commentary and local sportscaster Steve Courtney reporting from the sidelines.

LIONS DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR JOE BARRY
On where they stand defensively going into Cleveland: "I thought we did well (against Cincinnati). We gave up four big plays that I didn't feel real good about in the first game, and two or three of them came on the first three plays of the game. You know once, and I know coaches do this, they say oh man we played really good if you can take those four plays out. In the preseason you kind of can do that, because you're still teaching and the guys are learning the system and that's what I told them. If you exclude those four big plays, we did play pretty darn well; we played pretty sound. I thought we tackled well and we rushed the passer. We had four sacks and we got to experience a two-minute drill where we had to stop somebody at the end. We're not where we need to be right now of course, but the good thing is that we have time before the opener and the thing I'm really fired up about is that the guys show up every single day. They're working, they're listening and they're buying in and practicing their butts off. Where we're at right now, I'm excited."

On whether the exhibition games give them additional support besides practice: "Oh yeah, of course. You guys are out here everyday and you see us practice. We bang around pretty good, but nothing is ever 100-percent full-speed live tackle to the ground. So, yeah that's the thing I love about the preseason games: you actually get to see guys finish, tackle and make plays on the ball and sack. Yeah, we need more work on that of course."

On whether he expects improvement from the rookies: "Oh yeah. I think everything is in stages. You take a rookie for example; they come into rookie mini camp, then they come back for the OTAs and you obviously hope that there is improvement from the mini camp to the OTAs. Training camp is no different and as you start getting into preseason games, it's the same. You would hope that guys are going to play better in preseason game No. 2 than they did in No. 1. We're always looking for improvement, we're never looking to stay static or stay the same. We're always looking to be better."

On whether LB Johnny Baldwin surprises him: "Yeah, I don't know if you guys have had a chance to talk to Johnny, but he's just kind of one of those guys that nothing seems to really phase him; and it drives me crazy sometimes. He's just one of those kids, where he's kind of out there just running around and letting his instincts and athleticism take over. He made a few mistakes on plays where he actually made a play, just because he's going fast and being athletic and not getting knocked on the ground; that helps you sometimes. He's doing ok."

On whether Baldwin needs to speed up the tempo when calling signals: "Well no, that's new for him. Again, that's one of the things that drives me crazy, but it's all new for these young guys; especially him. He had never been in that role before; he was not the quarterback of his defense where he came from in college. It's all new for the guys; it's new for every rookie."

On the battle at cornerback: "We have nine corners in training camp and they're all getting reps and looks. I told every single one of them: the depth chart that we have posted in the locker room, it's on paper. I printed it off my computer and it can be changed, it can be altered. It's not carved in stone; it's not carved in wood. So everyday is an audition. Everyday is a job interview."
Â
On why he frequently rotates players in with his first unit: "That's only when it's earned. The best eleven guys are going to play. They're going to start the game. Now you hope that you have a situation where you have a really good 15 or 16 guys. Then obviously those other four, five or six guys, if they deserve to play, then they're going to play. Now I don't just rotate because you want to rotate. Obviously on the defensive front, it's a different world up there on the defensive line, so usually defensive linemen are going to rotate quite often. You know, our starting group is going to start, and if there is a guy that's a backup that is worthy of playing time, then they're going to play."

On whether he would play a cornerback that is playing consistently well: "I don't look at it as the 'hot hand.' The eleven best players when this is all over, when we get through training camp and preseason, and we have to announce our starting lineup for our opening game, the best eleven guys are going to play. You can word it as the eleven guys that have the 'hot hand,' whatever. The best eleven players are going to play and I don't care where they are on the depth chart right now. The best eleven guys (on) September 9 are going to play."

On whether the starting cornerback can change week-to-week if they earn the playing time: "I think that's one thing that motivates (them). There are a lot of things that motivate athletes and football players, but nothing motivates a player more than the guy that is behind him. If that guy behind him is playing well and is on his heels and outplaying him, then yeah we'll make a move, of course. Now, maybe that backup is playing really well but the starter is playing well also; then the starter is going to stay the starter. I don't want guys to get comfortable in their roles. It's all about competition and that's definitely what we're in right now."

On why DE Ikaika Alama-Francis was playing the right end: "You know, most guys play on the right and left (end). That's one thing in our system that we've tried to get away from with our ends. Our ends are usually our right end and a left end, but Ikaika is a young kid and he played both sides in college. He's not at the point where he can just settle in and take every snap at the left or every snap at the right. He's going to have to bounce around a little bit. He feels comfortable with it; he did a good job today and we'll see how it looks."

On what he likes about Alama-Francis: "I think the first thing that you need to like is his athleticism. You forget sometimes that the kid is 280 pounds when you just see him; he's very smooth and athletic. That probably right there is the No. 1 thing I like - I love his athleticism. You can't usually find big men that can run and change direction and rush the passer. Another thing with Ikaika is you never see him on the ground; he's got great balance. He's still very young; he's only been playing football (for a short time). This is only his fifth training camp; fifth two-a-days. He only played four years of college football and that's it. He's going to continue to get better, but you know he's coming out here, working everyday and improving. That's all we can ask for."

On not having his starting linemen together at all throughout camp: "I sure hope (we'll have them for the Indianapolis game). I'm one of those guys that just lives in the now and the guys that walk out of that locker room everyday ready to work and healthy, that's what I deal with. It fires me up. I know you guys may not see it that way, but when I look over and see Shaun (Rogers) working with our strength and conditioning staff, and I see DeWayne White doing that, that's something. Now of course, he's a football player; and football players have to get helmets on and shoulder pads on and work. When Shaun (Rogers) specifically is healthy, when he is deemed healthy enough to do that, then we'll get him out here. Of course, hopefully it will be sometime in the preseason, but if it's not, whenever."

On his players responding to his enthusiasm and style of coaching: "You know, I hope so. I am the way I am. They say players emulate their coaches, I don't know if I buy into that. I'm not going to change. I'm going to get on you when you do something wrong, and I'm going to hug you when you do something good. That's just the way I am. You need to ask them, but I think they have bought into the way I coach and the way I teach and I hope they continue to respond."

On why there should be optimism for the defense: "You know, we're just going to keep plugging along and we're going to do what we do. I'm not going to sit here and make a bunch of bold predictions. There is one thing that we stress; to play hard, play fast, be prepared and to finish. Those are the only four things that I really consistently talk about with our group. Don't say a bunch of stuff that you can't back up, just say those four things. If we can do those four things, I think we'll be pretty successful."

On redeeming themselves from last year's fourth quarter issues: "Well, I think Coach Marinelli and Coach Martz and myself, we've tried to emphasize that just finishing every period in practice (is important). For five straight days, both in the afternoon and morning practice, we finished with the two-minute drill. We had the first group do it, the second group do it and the third group do it. We did it for about seven straight practices. Right there, we're emphasizing, at least defensively, (to) finish. You've got a lead, whether it's one point or seven points, you've got a lead; what are we going to do to keep this lead? You've got to practice it; you need to talk about it; you need to beat it into their brain. Then, quite frankly we just need to go out there and do it."

On whether CB Travis Fisher is 'ok': "I think so. He went in - I guess he hurt his thumb - but then he came back out and finished practice. So I'm assuming that he was all right; he's a tough guy." 

LIONS OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE MARTZ
On if he feels optimistic RB Kevin Jones will be back by the first game of the regular season: "Yeah I do. I think we are all optimistic about that. I think that Kevin (Jones ) is too. It doesn't mean he is (ready). He is making good progress and we are all anxious to have him back."

On if he will be the starter when he comes back: "Oh, no. He has to come back and compete for his job like anybody else. Nobody has a stake on anything. It's like everywhere else. You've got to come back and get back in football shape and compete with the rest of the backs for that spot."

On when Jones would need to start practicing to be ready for the first game: "I don't know. You can't plan this stuff. You just cannot plan it. What you have to do is wait until you get him back, then you take it one step at a time because as soon as you start making these plans (they) always get broken. All the sudden he doesn't make the progress you thought he would and all that kind of stuff. You just let it go and when he's back, he's back."

On what is special about Jones' game: "He's a different back. Not only does he have speed but he is a very powerful back too, he's very strong. He runs through tackles and is a very good player."

On how important Jones is as a receiver: "He has really good hands, he really does. I think he proved that last year. I think he understands what to do as a back out of the backfield on pass routes. He is learning the protections which are something he really had to accomplish last year. He had not really been asked to do much of that. Those two phases of it he needs to continue to get better and do them, but he did a real effective job coming out of the backfield last year."

On if there is an area of concern the offense needs to work on: "I think we are like everybody else. We were a little sloppy in the opener. We would like to continue to get better in the running game. We need to gel up front with the back and get on the same page with what we are doing. The timing of the running game and the back, that just takes a lot of work. We've been doing a lot of that out here in the morning, running the ball a great deal. Hopefully that will transfer into the exhibition game."

On if he can implement a passing game faster than a running game: "It's not hard to put in pass routes. With the protections and the timing of those things, thats where everything starts with the offensive line. It takes time and patience (with the running game). You have to get the back on the same page as the line and what they are trying to accomplish and where the holes are going to be. It takes thousands and thousands of repetitions over and over and seeing this stuff against different defenses. Every time you play a defense it is going to come out a little differently each time. We just need to keep seeing those looks."

On why he thinks the offensive line will be better this year than last year: "I think we have the chance of having the same players there all together. We didn't have that at all last year. This time last year we lost a number of them who ended up being on (injured reserve). I think that George (Foster) and Edwin (Mulitalo) are substantially better than what we had at this point last year. They are very talented guys and they are learning what we do. It's a question now of getting them on the same page. I will tell you this: Jeff Backus has been just outstanding here in camp so far. He's really been terrific. We are very pleased with him. We're very pleased with the offensive line. Both groups have made really substantial progress. I think a year ago at this time we were trying to put together one line. We didn't really have a second group. We just had so many injuries that at one point you just had seven guys for practice. It's just a whole different scenario. Nothing this year correlates to anything that happened last year."

On what he likes about G Edwin Mulitalo: "He is a very physical player and very smart. He understands what we are trying to do. He's really stout. In this league now, particularly in this division, those defensive tackles are large guys and both he and (Damien Woody) can handle that type of stress physically. They are big people that can hang in there. Our pass protection, for instance, on five steps; they can do the work at the line of scrimmage and not get knocked back and that's a big deal."

On if RB Brian Calhoun will play against Cleveland: "He'll play in this game. We just want to see the progress of him executing under pressure and what he knows. That's always a big issue for young players: the ability to take what they know in practice and do it in game situations. He should do fine, he did last week. We just want to get him in the mix a little bit and get him used to the game atmosphere."

On who is winning the backup QB position between J.T. O'Sullivan and Dan Orlovsky: "I'm not concerned about that. They are both playing so well I could care less about it. We don't have to make that decision for a long time. I don't even think about that to be honest with you. We are trying to get J.T. (O'Sullivan) the same amount of reps that (Dan Orlovsky) has had in preparation. That's why he gets so many turns so he can see. He is still trying to catch up and he's got a long way to go yet. (Dan Orlovsky) has a real good feel for what we're doing. He really does. We can put him in a situation and he'll function just fine. J.T. (O'Sullivan), his head is still spinning somewhat, so he has to get more reps than (Dan Orlovsky) clearly to get him up to snuff with what we do."

On what TE Dan Campbell adds to the offense: "We know what Danny (Campbell) is. He is A+ in every category. There are no flaws with him at all. We just want to make sure we have him ready to go. He needs to get in contact shape and get in some games and whatnot. He is a pretty special player."

On if Orlovsky will play before O'Sullivan this week: "We are not sure yet. We haven't even discussed that - it depends. J.T. (O'Sullivan) if he struggles this week in practice then we may use him a little bit more (in the game). He just needs to get caught up. He is on overload right now. He's gone through warp two and everything is just spinning in his head. You want to keep them repped and in games and let them fight through that. (Dan Orlovsky) is fine. I don't worry about him. He's fine, but we've got to get J.T. (O'Sullivan) up to snuff."

On the long pass to WR Kevin Kasper at the end of the Cincinnati game: "I didn't make it up. We put the route combination with a different protection and the thing that was pleasing about that is that nobody blinked; they just went right out and did it. We didn't make it up. You practice protections with this personnel group and that route. We just never practiced all that together. That's kind of how this works so when you do that they just don't think about it; they just go do what the play tells them to do. The quarterback knows what he is doing."

On when he knew he was going to run that play: "I knew right there. I knew we needed this protection. I knew what they were going to do defensively. It's just what you do, that's my job. That's what you get paid to do. That's the stress of what you do. You have to look out there and give (the players) something they can succeed with. I just felt certain they were going to come after us on that turnover. We wanted to be in nickel personnel, we wanted to have a chance to block them and throw it down the field and give them a route that has a chance to get away and beat a defender and it did."

On how he knew it was going to work: "You don't (know if it will work). You can't worry about if it's going to work. Everything you do, when you put that stuff together the quarterback has answers for everything. That's how you try to prepare them. They'll make those decisions on the information that they have. (Dan Orlovsky) had man-to-man coverage so he knew he has to go to Kevin (Kasper) on that play. That's how that kind of works. With the protection, he knew he didn't have to 'hot' anything. Everything was going to get blocked. He knew as soon as I called it, he didn't even blink. That's why I say I don't worry about (Dan Orlovsky). He knows exactly what to do. The receivers just did it. There's nothing special about it. There's really not. What's special isn't the play or the fact that we put that together. That's not special, that's just what you are supposed to do. What's special is those young kids after this far in camp have done a good enough job to be about to put this together and be able to function with that information without having practiced it. That's what we do. That's what you want your players to be able to do is be able to put things together and make decisions based on what they know. That's why you coach them on not just what to do, but why you do it. (Dan Orlovsky) knew exactly what that protection was for; he knew he could hold it a little bit and throw it down the field."

On if WR Calvin Johnson is caught up yet: "He's done a good job. He's pretty close right now. For a guy with all the information swimming around in his head, he is really on top of everything. I'm kind of amazed at him really. Everyday he just amazes you, he just does. He is pretty special."

On all the receivers who are nicked up: "They could probably all play right now, but we are trying to take care of them and get them ready and due diligence with them. Coach (Marinelli) is very good about, if these guys are nicked knowing they'll come back. There's no sense (in rushing them back); it helps you find out about these other guys. I don't know if there is anybody in there necessarily who we will miss (against Cleveland). We have to listen to the trainers. It's good to be able to look at the first group with some of that stuff; it's really a good thing in camp right now. None of it is serious and like you said, it just gives us a chance to look at the other guys."

On if the team is short on Z receivers: "No we're fine. No we've got plenty of z's. I think we've got four or five of them right now."

On if the team is better equipped to withstand injuries to the offensive line this year: "What's that saying, 'he's on his way to a no-hitter'. We are really happy with the depth we have at offensive line. The quality of it is really good. That second group is as good a group as I've been around since I've been in the league. What's fun about what we are doing is there is just a certain confidence and Jim (Colletto) is just as good as there is. He is so terrific with what we are doing and getting these guys prepared. He is pretty special. I learned how to coach from Jim (Colletto). He taught me how to coach. I worked for him at Arizona State. I have so much great respect for him. I just think the world of him."

On if he will still experiment with what works for the running game: "We'll put them in different situations. We like to stress out some of the different parts of what we do and get it tested under pressure before you actually get into it in a season. We'll be in and out of a lot of different things. Some of the things you will look at and it won't make sense because of the situation. It just is what it is."

On if he will ever call the same play twice: "We'll call it, but maybe not in the sequence that we would do it. Maybe go run-run-run-pass, or run-run-run-run-run-pass. I'd do something like that."

On if he agrees with QB Jon Kitna who said this offense could be as productive as any in the history of the game: "Who knows. I just think the potential of this group is pretty spectacular really, I think. I think that is what everybody is feeding on. You and I know, and I'm not trying to be pessimistic at all, but our job is to make sure all of our focus is on the details and we continue to get better every week. As long as we do that there is no reason this can't be a real special group."