DETROIT LIONS DAILY UPDATE FOR WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 22, 2007 AND TRANSCRIPT OF ROD MARINELLI POST PRACTICE!
TODAY'S NEWS
- The Lions had a full-squad practice this afternoon in pads on the indoor field at the team's headquarters and practice facility in Allen Park. This week's practice routine is intended to simulate the regular season.
- WR Devale Ellis and RB Kevin Jones remain on the PUP list and did not practice today.
- The Detroit Lions travel to Indianapolis to take on the defending Super Bowl champions Saturday, August 25 at the RCA Dome. The Lions hope to keep their preseason unbeaten streak alive after a 23-20 victory last week at Cleveland Browns Stadium. It marks the first time since 1995 that Detroit has started the preseason 2-0. This weekend's game will be televised in Metro Detroit on WKBD-TV CW Channel 50 with coverage beginning at 7 p.m. EDT. Frank Beckmann will handle play-by-play, former Lions QB Erik Kramer will add color commentary and local sportscaster Steve Courtney will report from the sidelines. The game will also be broadcast live nationally on the NFL Network.
- The 11th annual Detroit Lions Kickoff Luncheon presented by Tribute Restaurant and the Wisne Family and hosted by the Detroit Economic Club will be held on Friday, August 24, at Cobo Center, downtown Detroit. Lunch will begin at noon followed by a program that will feature Lions' head coach Rod Marinelli and the introduction of the 2007 Detroit Lions team. The masters of ceremonies will be the Lions' radio play-by-play team of Dan Miller and Jim Brandstatter. The entire Lions' team annually attends the luncheon and awards from the 2006 season will be presented. Players receiving awards will include Most Valuable Players WR Roy Williams and WR Mike Furrey (offense), DT Cory Redding (defense) and K Jason Hanson (special teams). Other awards will go to LB Donté Curry, QB Jon Kitna, C Dominic Raiola, LB Ernie Sims, G Barry Stokes and CB Stanley Wilson. Also featured at the luncheon will be former Lions' great TE Charlie Sanders who was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, August 4, in Canton, Ohio. Proceeds from the luncheon go to Detroit Lions Charities, the Lions' non-profit foundation that has donated more than $4.3 million to charities in Michigan. The primary recipient of Charities' proceeds from the luncheon will be Think Detroit PAL youth football, which includes approximately 3,000 Detroit children playing football in the nation's largest after-school tackle league. Tickets for the luncheon, which is open to the general public, are $60. To purchase tickets or for more information or contact the Detroit Economic Club at (313) 963-8547.
LIONS HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI
Injury update and opening statement: "Ernie Sims is probable: just day-to-day. It was just a bruise on the knee, he's fine. Kalimba (Edwards), he practiced today, so he'll be probable. (Dan) Orlovsky is doubtful with turf toe. Frank Davis is out. (Damien) Woody is questionable, day-to-day with his ankle. I think Shaun (Rogers) is fine. He sprained a finger in there, but he's fine, they X-rayed it. Dewayne White was fine. (Jon) Kitna is getting better; he's just tight in the back.
"Today was our first prep day for Indianapolis. Yesterday was a fundamentals day for us, and you kind of get to know them. One thing that helps our offense is: playing the same defense. So we've got a good look for them. Our defense was facing cards for the first time, really. So, it wasn't as crisp and sharp as I'd like it, but then the end was good. I liked the two-minute drill at the end of practice. We had a good, tough, long practice, and then that's when the conditioning starts and the concentration has to be there."
On if he is worried about QB Jon Kitna for Saturday: "If he's ready, he's ready. I'd love to see him go, but we'll see."
On if Kitna's injury could continue to Saturday: "It could. It's just day-to-day right now. It's just tight in his lower back. So we'll be smart with him."
On if the injury is worse than initially thought: "No, I think he's getting better. It's just sore. He just pulled it; he's got a tight back. We'll be smart with it."
On if the team plans on playing starters less because of injuries: "Not really. We'll see who is up, ready to go. It's just getting guys to work. A lot of guys just need to work. We played a long time in Cleveland; we got a lot of reps in Cleveland. Now we just go into this one, and the guys who are healthy we play with them."
On what the team was looking for in moving Jon Bradley to FB: "A load: a big man who can really run the lead blocks. You saw all those counters we run. Well, if we get a big man in there… he's done that. You can see, he's very nimble with his feet, he's quick and he's got good balance and he's handled the ball before. So that's a 310-pound man leading through the hole that doesn't fall down, that has some balance. So you're looking for, physically, we want to continue to pound our run."
On why former FB Cory Schlesinger didn't work out in that role: "It's just the way it was. We moved on, we felt… looking at some flexibility in that position. This guy (Jon Bradley) has got a chance to be just a load in there. He's just a big back, and he can do a lot of other things. He can play defense for us, do some other things. So you look, and he's got to go earn it yet. He gives you a guy with that position flexibility; all of a sudden you suit up seven defensive linemen in a game, really you're suiting up eight and you're suiting up a big blocker in the backfield. So you're adding depth to your team."
On if Bradley will be able to pick up the system in two weeks: "It's not the whole system he picks up. There're packages of it. It's a power package. That part of it is realistic."
On Bradley having to know a lot of shifts still: "There aren't as many (shifts); the grouping is tighter. It's a tighter grouping of things he's got to do. Then, as he gets that, you kind of expand things if he's doing well in it. Right now his package is condensed."
On the impact DT Shaun Rogers will have: "I want to see how he's done today, see how he feels and then see how he feels tomorrow. I'm going day-by-day with him. I've just got to be smart, how much he's got. I extended him a little bit more today: two-minutes, nine-on-seven, all individual and a blitz period. I just want to make sure how his knee reacts and all those things."
On how DE Dewayne White looks: "He's rusty. He's just got to knock the rust off. Athletically, he's moving around well, but the details of his get-off and his footwork - he got some good rushes in today. So I liked that, he was able to rush. He's just got to get his reps in right now. We've got a couple of weeks to go."
On how much time White will get this weekend: "A little bit, yeah. Each day we've got to check with him to see. If I tell you he's going to play a lot and then he's sore tomorrow, I'd rather tell you at the end of the week and say, 'This is what I think we'll get.'"
On if next week will be a conditioning week for Rogers: "In my mind right now, I wouldn't want to play him in that last game. But I'd just keep working on football, practicing football, and run, and practice, and then get a lot of drill work. A lot of good drill work for him."
On if Kitna missing Saturday would not be ideal: "No, but you just go with what you've got. We'll make the best of it."
On what going up against the Super Bowl champ in Week 3 of the preseason can do for the team's preparation: "Nothing."
On what he meant by 'nothing': "We're just going to go and do what we do. It's about what we do. We go into a hostile environment (against) a good team. We understand that. Now it's about what we do, how we prepare for the week. I just, it's a grey mass out there to me. All those things, 'Super Bowl this week, 6-10 next week,' - no, I don't want to do that. Here's what we do, here's how we do it. Here's how we prepare, let's go; one snap at a time. I don't care."
On if the team is game-planning for the Colts: "A little bit. But more on defense right now, we're just doing what we're doing. We're just executing, executing and just keep doing what we do. Offensively, we've got to do a few things because the systems are different from last week to this week. It's about how we prepare. The issue is always going to be what we do."
On if he's talked to Colts DT Anthony McFarland since his injury: "He's devastated. He's just devastated. He went there, he did a great job for them, made an impact, helped get them to the Super Bowl. He came in, a veteran leader, he can play and knows the system, and he's just really looking forward to this year. I had a chance to talk to him over the summer. It's tough."
On his first time lining up against Tony Dungy as a head coach: "I look forward to seeing him before the game, and then we just go from there. To play his teams, you know the execution, the speed… I mean this is the fastest team we'll play in all three phases of the game. They're fast because they know what they're doing. They've got good speed, really good speed, but the simplicity of what they're doing; they ran the same system for five or six years now. They don't change very much, and now they go fast. Now fast guys are really playing fast. That's what he does. We've got to go in, do what we do, and try to create our speed, our tempo, our pace, and execute and don't self destruct."
On if the Lions are trying to do the same thing as the Colts: "Exactly, and we can't self destruct. We've got to go up there with poise and just go into that arena and play one snap at a time and don't worry about who we're playing and just go execute. It's good for us, it's great."
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