Lions Head Coach Rod Marinelli's Press Conference After Practice

LIONS HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI
On if T Gosder Cherilus will play more this week or be a starter: "I'm just not going to talk about personnel. We'll see it on Sunday."

On if LB Jordon Dizon will play more: "On Sunday we'll find out who plays. I told you that last week."

On the problems competing against a 3-4 defense presents for the tackles: "It's like when we played Cleveland. It creates some different looks, different pressure, different movements, so (we) just have to be on all the alignments - those are really important for us."

On the balance between being aggressive toward a QB and not breaking contain: "You've got to be able to do it. You've got to be a factor because if you allow an un-moblie quarterback just to sit there, you have problems. So you have to be able to do it all, but you have to be able to overlap rushers - that's got to be all part of it. But there's a certain time where it's just the structure on blitzes, you have to know when you're bringing more than four. When five is coming you make an inside move, you have to know, you taste the water, not good; back out - and the discipline of it."

On what must happen in order for players to put more heat on the QB: "The heat has come, but we have to keep the guy in the pocket; we're chasing him around the field. The thing that is important is you keep mobile guys - just like the quarterback we'll face this week, he's a very mobile guy, very active - so we've got to be smart and keep the guy in the pocket and pressure. You have to do it all."

On how much it helps to know 49ers QB J.T. O'Sullivan: "And he knows us, so it equals out. But you just watch him on tape, he's mobile, he's quick, he's good with the ball. And one thing he does: he won't let a play quit. That's who he is. He'll fight every second of the way and stay alive."

On if they pay attention to the fact that O'Sullivan has been sacked 12 times so far: "Yeah, that's where it's important. The rush has got to come alive now. I mean, that's critical. That being said, you have to be disciplined with him too or you have to chase him and chase him to the sideline. It presents a challenge, but we have to stay after him the entire game."

On if he will engage in a chess match with 49ers Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz or just execute his defense the same as usual: "No, we just have to go out and just execute what we do and get our feet in the ground. That's going to be real important. All the movement and shifting, and then once that's done we have to get ourselves reset and ready to play."

On if Dizon may not play this game because Martz's schemes are more complicated than the Packers': "We just work him and see how he does all during the week, all the resets and things like that."

On 49ers RB Frank Gore's impact as a runner and receiver: "He's an excellent (back). They really are a talented offense. When you look at them, you have an All-Pro runner, no doubt about it, that tight end is fifth pick in the draft, whatever, the left tackle's a first-round pick, you have a Hall of Fame receiver and you have another first-round pick at receiver. They're very talented guys. It starts with Gore, though. It starts with him."

On S Daniel Bullocks leading the team in tackles in the Green Bay game: "He's starting to come along. He really is. He's playing like we think he's going to play. He really played well."

On if Bullocks looks similar to his rookie year when he began to get comfortable: "Off of what we saw, he was playing very well."

On if he could believe Bullocks chased down Green Bay WR Greg Jennings during one play in Sunday's game: "He's fast, he really is. He is fast.

On if it's unheard of for a safety to pull down a receiver like that: "Yeah, but he's got great speed. He's a high 4.4 guy. He's a legitimate big-time player; he really is. We just have to get him to play at that level now."

On how much "chunk plays" by another team shatter the defense: "It's brutal. Everything you talk about - eliminate explosion plays. The first two games it would be either a tackle here or a tackle there, a missed play here or a fall down there, or something - you can't do it. It puts you behind the eight ball. It takes away your consistency."

On if they change field position as well: "It's like getting a punt blocked. It's the same thing, same idea. We just have to just stay on it and eliminate - keep our deepest to deepest, widest to widest.

On if that's something he thought he eliminated with the new players he brought in: "I felt it was going to be, and going through all preseason I felt good about it, but now, first game the issues were tackling, second game, fall down or get beat deep. You know, you just can't do it."

On if he corrects mental errors by eliminating information: "I think the explosion plays that we had were technique errors: execution, a tackle here, or not playing, getting beat in your technique. But the one thing you do anytime, I think when things are not going exactly the way you want it, instead of adding you start subtracting. You add to your package by subtracting, and so you make sure you're doing those things exactly right."

On if he applies that on a team-wide or individual basis: "You can't do that for one player. That's a good question, though. No, you can't pare it down for one guy. You'll take information out."

On if he will change anything about practice preparation this week: "I think when you do that, it throws a major clog in what you're trying to do, in my opinion. When you start changing to change - this building doesn't need that. They need consistency on how you come to work, how you prepare, all the same way. And in it when you say, 'Oh well, now we have to change this and change that. Oh, the other way wasn't working.' No. You just believe in a plan. You set the plan, you teach the plan, you execute it and then you go play on Sunday."

On what has allowed a so-called journeyman like J.T. O'Sullivan to now become a starting quarterback: "You see on our team guys like that, guys that weren't drafted; they're all over the league. I think he is extremely smart, one. He's a really bright guy. He's got excellent mobility and movement, and he's got a feel. When he breaks out of the pocket, (7:03) pumps a guy, all those things. And by being so smart he's a quick learner. And I think guys like that always have something to prove, and he's doing a great job of proving it."

On if QB Drew Stanton is healthy now: "Yeah, he had the cast off now. He's finally starting to throw the ball."

On if he would put Stanton in the game if necessary: "Yeah, he's in position. If something went haywire down the road, you have a guy, our third quarterback right now."

On whether he has had a chance to see RB Kevin Smith at his fullest potential in games: "No, we haven't. Both our runners, we haven't. We're gotten behind so fast in both games, and it's kind of knocked us out of some of the things that we really wanted to do. So hopefully we'll get back to that where we keep this thing closer and then we're able to run a little bit more and then our play-action, some of those things can help us."

On if Smith looks like he belongs as a starter: "Oh yeah. You can see there's flashes where he's explosive up the field. He's got great forward lean, and he just loves football. He's going to be a good player."

On if Stanton could play this week if something were to happen: "He's our third quarterback. If something happens with your two guys, then I think he's physically able to get in and play and help us after the cast came off."

On the issues presented by playing on grass: "Maybe it's the road, maybe it's grass, maybe it's outside because you're in a dome all day (in Ford Field), the wind isn't blowing and all those things, the sunshine hitting your eyes. So it's more than maybe, it's all of the above, and we haven't done well on it. I've made a very conscious effort all year to be outside. We've been outside a lot. One: I think it's easier on their bodies, no question about that, for the ankles and your hips. And it's getting used to just being outside in different elements. Try to put them in that element as much as possible."

On why playing a 3-4 defense is a problem: "Because your rules sometimes change. All your rules are set here, now you have more guys jumping around, dancing around, giving you looks different ways. It would be like playing against a 3-4 every day and then going to a 4-3; it's just different. And usually it's a short week to get ready for it, so that's what causes you problems a little bit. The one thing we had was the week with Cleveland that helped us in the preseason."

On if he practiced a 3-4 defense less in camp because the team only plays against one such team: "Right. And the one thing we had was the week of preparation for Cleveland really helped us."

On how much the team practiced it that week: "That week we got three in, three solid practices in. That was our third game, right? We had a normal game week that week. That helped us."

On if WR Roy Williams' comments that he should be thrown the ball more create a distraction: "No, I think Roy really wants to win. You admire that in him. This guy wants to win, and he's made that known. He's a great competitor, as a coach that's what you like about him."

On how it's possible that every mistake on the field is his fault, as he's said: "Well, no; what I'm just saying is that there's one person you come to, right, for the answers. And that's me. And that's my responsibility."