Transcripts of Lions Head Coach Rod Marinelli and retired TE Eric Beverly

LIONS HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLIOpening Statement: "Eric Beverly retired yesterday. Jeff Backus had a personal reason today, so he'll miss this morning's practice

LIONS HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI
Opening Statement: "Eric Beverly retired yesterday. Jeff Backus had a personal reason today, so he'll miss this morning's practice and this afternoon which is a kicking practice. He will be back in the hotel tonight. We took Dan Campbell off the PUP, and it's smart. He's really still doing the same thing, but this allows us to get walk-throughs. We are going to be smart with him all the way. I just have to make sure he is there. No update on Calvin Johnson. We are working J.T. (O'Sullivan) in a little bit. He came from the World League at QB and Mike (Martz) sees some good things in him. We are trying to get all these guys in this rotation right now and have a chance to look at J.T. He has got a live arm, and the thing that is kind of surprising is how he has absorbed the material this quick. It is amazing. He has been in a lot of different places and he is bright. We see some things in him so we are just trying to get these guys looks and really trying to come up with that number 2 for this season. That is where we are at."

On QB J.T. O'Sullivan competing for the backup QB position: "Oh yes. He has been around some places like the World League, but we have had a chance to look at him. And like I've told you, (Mike Martz) has a great feel for that position, and he's gotten guys like that from the World League and had great success. It's not like this guy is the guy, but we want to look at him. We don't want to miss something and (we) have an opportunity to just get guys in the mix and take a look. This system is so much about knowledge, poise, toughness and knowing what to do. We will just kind of let it play out." 

On WR Edell Shepherd's injury: "That hand has been there since the offseason, and he banged it again. But he had that cast on, and it hurts. He's ok, but he is biting the bullet. Here's a guy who is hungry and he is not missing a meal man, he is coming to work everyday. But it is sore, it is sore."

On reaction to retirement of TE Eric Beverly: "I was surprised. It caught me off guard. But I respect it. He came into my office, and he is a heck of a man and he came right in and just said, 'Hey, I'm done. It's too much, I've had a great career and I want to tell you early so you can make plans.' It caught me off guard a little bit, all of us, but you adjust and you prepare for things like that to happen and we just move on."

On how Beverly's retirement affects the team: "We need Dan (Campbell); we are down a guy already, so we have just got to adjust and find some position flexibility. The biggest thing is the pounding that position takes in camp. That's where you need that extra body to get those run drills going and things like that. We have got to, the thing about it, we can go out and find a guy, but to learn it is tough. So just getting the line correctly means so much. We have got to make some adjustments within our team hopefully and then keep our eyes open."

On the defense compared to last season: "It's just on the details. Really, and I'm not saying anything about (former defensive coordinator) Donnie (Henderson) at all. I mean, I said that the other day. But we are on it. They know the rules, and you can see the speed. They are fast anyway, but when you know exactly what you are doing and why. This defense is about instincts and going. The worst thing you can do to instincts is to make it complicated where they are not using their speed. Right now they are using their speed. If we can get the front humming, then the interceptions are going to go up (as well as) sacks and fumbles and those things. So I am very pleased with their tempo."

On CB Travis Fisher: "He is playing nickel and he played some nickel at the Rams. When we go down to our nickel, ours isn't just a nickel to match up. That nickel back in our system is like a sambacker. There are three wide receivers now, but he's got run fits and he's got to be a blitzer, a run fit, a zone player. It's the toughest spot, that's what a lot of people don't understand. Nickel is, well, we were fortunate in Tampa with Rhonde Barber. That one fell into us. I think coach Dungy ended up drafting a guy in the first round there and I think Lovie traded for him to go get a guy. Ok, this is a hard position. That guy, his skills, well a lot of skills he has to have. So we're hoping he has a shot at it because it's not just man to man coverage. It's not that. It's a whole lot of stuff - how to check the run and do those things. He is doing good; we've just got to keep finding another guy and develop the depth in there."

On having the fans at practice: "It's awesome. It's what I want. The most important thing: we all have a chance to see that they like football so much. They appreciate everything about it. It means a lot to me and is something I wanted and it's good. I just hope someday we can keep working ways to get more stands and more ways to get more people. This is a first run right now, so it's something I'm really excited about. The players like it. They make a play everybody is cheering for them. It brings some energy, so you've got to appreciate that. It's special.

On signing every autograph: "Oh I do. I respect them. When people come out and watch football like this and cheer, we owe that, I owe that. It's part of the deal."

On getting autographs when he was a kid: "In those days, you didn't do that. You just liked watching them all the time and saying, 'whoa'. I really didn't care about a piece of paper, I just didn't. That was me. I'd throw it away. But the vision, I still have that. I don't lose that. In those days you didn't get around to (training camps). I can still remember a guy taking me to an exhibition game. The LA Rams - Bucky Pope caught a pass down the sideline. It's so vivid in my mind. But hopefully for these young kids, there are memories here. Everyday there are awesome memories. Seeing some guy, and you remember this stuff; that's why our game is so awesome man. This game is awesome, really good stuff. We just got to do our work."

On CB Keith Smith: "He's physical. He's got really good feet. You know how we have the exit angles as we come off in cover two when they re-route and you have to turn. You've got to have some hips, a flip of the hips and those things. He is a willing tackler, but he is also a guy who has got the great speed to play man. What you want to do is you just get these guys and just coach them everyday and not add a lot of stuff to them. Like I was saying, the guys that carry the emphasis of material are our linebackers. They have got to help with the front and the back. It's fundamentals and skills, and doing the same things everyday. Not give him too many things to do, not look at him as a nickel. He's got nickel talent, but all the sudden you put him in there and I don't want to slow his progress down at all. I just want to develop him into a play and see him get better."

On WR Devale Ellis: "He is driving the trainers crazy. That's what you like, but he is ahead of the game. He is running pretty well. Some of these guys are coming off (the PUP) a little bit earlier, like Dan (Campbell). We've just got to be smart. I get nervous with him. When we take him off PUP, I'm always looking in the drills. He's not supposed to be in one. He is the happiest guy in camp right now because he likes playing. We just have to be smart. We take him off PUP because he can't walk through, he can't do anything. So at least we take him off PUP. We feel he is going to be right, he's gonna be healthy. He's going to be ok. By taking him off, we are able to get some step throughs, he can run some routes, and just kind of get something done."

On when he anticipated WR Calvin Johnson coming to camp: "I kind of plan it for myself mentally. I want him here in the worst way, but I know this is the NFL and how things go. So I'm assuming it's going to be a battle and I'm prepared for it, and don't like it but so be it. I have to deal with it. I think that Tom (Lewand) is in there battling everyday to get it done. He'll get it done. He is going to get it done."

On CB Tony Beckham: "Guys come in and they know the system, play the system, then they are going to get opportunities in preseason games. The big thing in the defense is trust, and then you have got to make the plays when you are called to make the play. What happens is we just have to constantly work at not guessing. If guys guess and make a play then it's over his head. I just don't want that. We will be fine if we keep the ball in front of us, hustle and tackle and do those things well. We'll create turnovers that way and when we blitz, I want to blitz when we want to blitz. Not because we can't get there with a four-man or five-man (rush). But it's about trust; doing the job and being a playmaker when you have those opportunities. We kind of put the handcuffs on the defense (in training camp) because I don't want to search out receivers and I don't want to hit the quarterback. We can practice hard and physical with etiquette. Etiquette is the key."

On DE Dewayne White: "He's fine, it's just that groin in there. Another day or so and we should have him back. I think a couple of days. It's nothing other than just a little pull up there. I'm hoping Monday we'll have a chance to get him back."

On WR Kevin Kasper: "His (hamstring) was bothering him."

RETIRED LIONS TE ERIC BEVERLY
On why he decided to retire right now and if it's permanent: "Right now it is (permanent). You never know what the future holds, but right now it's permanent. There comes a point in everybody's career where you feel like: can you do your job at 100-percent or not. I think physically I can still play; just mentally, my passion for the game is there but my passion to play the game isn't 100-percent there. I didn't want to cheat myself or the organization while I was out there. It's a dangerous sport too, so if you're not fully out there, you can definitely get injured."

On it appearing that he fit in pretty well here so far: "I think there was definitely a fit. That definitely was my big struggle; I started here, I enjoyed it here and I saw something going here and I wanted to be a part of it. Also, I wanted to know that if I couldn't give my 100-percent that I didn't want to cheat myself or this organization."

On if he came out for the first few days of camp just to see how he felt: "Yeah. I think that the first couple of days confirmed it, but it really wasn't the training camp. This is something that I've been contemplating probably since last season ended and I wasn't sure. People have asked me if it was the camp and it really wasn't. The camp really wasn't that hard, so it wasn't training camp or anything like that. It's just the game itself and the passion to play it right now isn't there."

On what he tells young unheralded players about getting into the NFL: "I tell a lot of young guys: one day at a time, one practice at a time. I know that seems like a cliché but that's what I did. I went one day, one day, one day and then when I got out of training camp my rookie season I was like: 'I don't know if I'm going to make the team. I made a team and then I went week-by-week and day-by-day. You can control what you can control. You control your effort; you control what you know and how good you can do your job. Everything else, it's not your job to really even worry about. You do worry about it.

"Part of it was luck too. Knowing good people who believed in me; things fell into place. That's why I ended up back here. People knew me; they respected my play and respected me as a person and I had an opportunity to come back."

On making a career for himself in the NFL: "I tell you what: it's a blessing. Because I never imagined, I never even dreamt about playing professional football. When I came out of high school, I just knew I was going to college. I got a scholarship going into Miami (Ohio). When I got out of Miami, I ended up interviewing for Chrysler and Motorola for a purchasing job and I had an opportunity to come here and play. Ten years later, I'm done… now I'm looking for another job (laughter)."