Transcripts of Marinelli and Kitna from Thursday:
LIONS HEAD COACH ROD MARINELLI
On general topics regarding the first day: "You all have the PUP, right, and all that list? The only guy that didn't practice today, who is going to be one a day, is (Brian) Calhoun. Eventually, he'll be in the morning, but we wanted to start him off, our practice this afternoon is a little bit shorter, and we don't have a run drill in the afternoon. So we're going to try to break him into it at that point.
"I like this team. I like their work. I think you guys who had a chance to watch this (practice), the tempo is good. They understand the tempo; they understand the fundamentals. You can practice like this when you have a certain practice etiquette and you understand that we're trying to take care of each other, be smart with each other, and be physical at the same time. You can get a lot of work done that way in pads. But like I said yesterday: I'm going to be smart with them and rewards will be earned as they do a nice job for me, in terms of how we practice, I'll reward them. I'm very pleased with what we do. It's how we do it, what we do, and our pace and our tempo. So we've just got to build off that this afternoon."
On who he thinks might come off the PUP first: "I think Mac, (Shaun) McDonald should be right, I think pretty soon. And not far after that is Devale (Ellis), and Shaun [Rogers] will be pretty soon. I just want to keep conditioning him right now, this is really important to me. He doesn't need a lot of major hitting right now. I just want to get him in great condition."
On how RB Tatum Bell looks in pads: "It's a lot of what we saw in our OTAs and everything. His speed - he's a veteran player that's been very productive in this league, and he's got great speed. He's bright. We've acquired some really good backs, we feel good about them."
On if Bell is an energy player: "Yes, he likes it. We've got a lot of guys like that, but he's got real juice, especially in this system, with Mike (Martz), we start spreading people. When he breaks it, with his speed, and all of those guys, when Kevin (Jones) gets back, we've got guys with enough speed to really make a defense pay."
On if the release of RB Shawn Bryson was a loss: "No question, but hopefully we can make sure he gets down, starts rehabbing, keeps working, and you just never know down the road. Never know."
On the tempo: "We talked a lot last night about the tempo. Not looking too far down, trying to do what we do: our fundamentals, knowing our assignments and working together. Sometimes, these things can be highly competitive and there are a lot of people on the ground. I want to be competitive, but I want to be smart. There's a certain etiquette I'm trying to get coached here, so we can be physical. They did a nice job, there's not a lot of chatter, just a kind of a business approach is what I'm looking for."
On the secondary: "I kind of saw it in the offseason, too. I think when you really understand the system and you start believing in the system, it can protect our corners. Now, the big part of it is our front. The front has got to generate pressure. I am going to keep the hat on those guys every day. This thing works when they generate chaos and havoc up-field, and it's going to make their job easier in the back row. They've got to be able to just be disciplined and believe in the details, believe in the defense, trust the defense. They've got to trust the front and good things will happen for us. I like those guys back there. Quietly, they're just working."
On DE Kalimba Edwards saying that he needs to get to the quarterback: "Oh yeah. That's good that he repeated that. I've said that about 19,000 times."
On if double-digit sacks are possible for Edwards: "Yes. If we stop the run, and I think the thing that is exciting is I think our offense has got capabilities of putting some points on the board, and once you get a lead, if we can get ourselves in position to get some leads, then you can turn the front loose. You can really turn these guys in our great calls and start creating havoc. And the good thing about having chances to be a good sack team is opportunities. If you're behind and playing the run every down, you're not going to get opportunities."
On what Edwards can do to get better: "Fundamentals. Well, what you do is show him what he can do, what he's failing to do, and maybe it's a detail when you make a rip move. Is your hand not high enough? How to finish the move; how to run a game correctly; how to have a certain focus and preparation on how to defeat an offensive tackle. It's about skill development. Talent only takes you so far in this league, because the guy you're playing against, he's talented. So it's the guys with the best fundamentals, who have a plan, and can play one snap at a time. That's what this camp is about. That's why it's so much fun to wakeup every morning - I just can't wait to get here… and see you (laugher)."
On differences between year one and two: "I think that's where you can fail. You say: 'Well, we've got this.' I'm not going to assume it. I'm just going back, it's like tackling. 'Hey we tackled well this year, we'll tackle well again this year.' Not true. We've got to go work on it and all of the fundamentals, you've got to continue to work on. All the beliefs, or you lose them. It's like in anything anybody does in any business. The basics and the simple things that you believe in, if you don't work at them, you lose that skill. It's like golf. You don't work at it, you don't play well: it's the same thing - except ours just happens to be very violent."
On if there is anything new with rookie WR Calvin Johnson: "No, not yet."
On if they are further along than they were last year at this point: "Yeah, I just think a lot of it is muscle memory and not just the assignments but how to do it. You know me, in the offseason I like a lot of work, we do a lot. The more you do it, and you teach it, then you come back, it is space learning. You do something well for a while, hard, give them a break, and now you start again and re-teach it. That's a great way to teach people. So we're ahead. We know what we're doing and we've just got to keep doing it."
On where certain players will be lining up: "Like I was saying yesterday, we're going to work guys around. Look at guys, and move them in and out. One of the things I really want, I've got to develop great depth on this team, too. You've got to put guys in different positions."
On what G Damien Woody has to do to be a starter: "I just think be very consistent. He's lean right now and he's moving around well. But it's not just him, it's the whole team. We've got to be able to be consistent, and then the thing I mentioned to him out at the end of practice, I want to make sure we're practicing and on the upswing the last ten plays. That last minute stamina. We're in that mode, we've got to go do our job. I've got to go do our job and finish a game off."
On what Woody weighed in at: "He's right there, he really is. I'm very pleased. You've got to hit him, he's down, and he looks good right now."
On what DT Shaun Rogers weighed in at: "He's getting down. He'll be there, he's going to get there."
On the PUP players: "Devale (Ellis) is going to need a little bit of time, and (Shaun) McDonald, we wanted to make sure we watched him cut today. Then there's some caution with Shaun (Rogers), I want to make sure, because I thought last year it hit him so fast and so hard, and he got injured. So I wanted to make sure I got him in the type of shape I want him in right now. We ran the dog out of him today. But that's good. Other than that, I just think, Kevin (Jones), we've just got to see. Those things are just a pain thing, a lot of pain in that thing as they try to heal."
On if he sees an improved confidence in the team: "I just see a team that, when you know what you're doing and know kind of how you're supposed to do it, that builds confidence. It's a day-to-day thing. You get confidence as your steps are right and you pick up the right blitz, or you're playing your gap. A big part of this whole game in the NFL is just being on the details and knowing what you're doing. Then our job here in camp is how you do the job. So that's how you build real confidence: day-to-day work."
On how he likes the fans being present: "I love that now. I've said this from day one: I admire these fans. Because this is a tough city - I love that part. I walk through there, I just love it. They just like football. If I didn't put the fence up there, they might've been on the field. But that's a part I just admire. People who love football, I like them."
On how he slept the night before: "This is really one of the great times of the year for coaches, probably not players, but for coaches it is just a great time. If you like football, and if you really enjoy this stuff, and this staff does, you can't wait. You love meeting with your team. You want to do a great job of teaching. If that's what you enjoy doing. Then you have a chance to come out and work on the field; there's nothing like it. I can't explain it to you. There's nothing like it."
On what DE Ikaika Alama-Francis needs to work on: "Well, first of all, to get aligned correctly. He couldn't get aligned and he's not getting off the ball well enough; he's a little bit high. So that's my expectations right now. Just do the little things. But, no, he's a big, good looking athlete with a great willingness. So he's got to get the basic stuff right now and he'll be fine."
On how important it is for the rookies to get in: "It's like I was saying last night: it's critical for every guy to be in, to be signed. But with Calvin, like I said, the one benefit he has is he was here all of our offseason, did a great job. He's a quick study in terms of learning. He learns very well, very bright. I know he's a highly conditioned guy. So if that is a guy that has to be out, he should recover very quickly when he gets back in. He did really a fine job in the offseason. We're just working and can't wait to get him back."
On what McDonald's and Ellis' injuries are: "Shaun's got some arthritis in his knee, and they looked at it and did like a scope, and then Ellis had a scope in the knee at the end of OTAs."
On how RB T.J. Duckett looks: "We need to watch our tapes. Sometimes a guy makes a heck of a play, you say, 'Half the things he did were wrong.' So you just have got to make the day-by-day details."
On if Duckett has slimmed down: "Yeah. Boy he looks good, he's lean and he's being in shape. He looks like he's in very good condition. Most of this team is."
LIONS QB JON KITNA
On his impression of the first training camp practice of 2007: "Definitely felt like more of a team out there today. I think with separate units working together last year, right now I feel like we're a team that's working that's trying to get the other guy better instead of trying to embarrass the other guy. It was a good start."
On Coach Mike Martz' offensive system: "You know we were talking to the offensive line - that was big for them. They were feeling more comfortable out there and the more comfortable they feel the better the offense is going to be. Mike (Martz) is always tweaking things, he could be putting a play in and a thought could come to his mind right then and he'll start talking about it. We're always tweaking things, but the familiarity is definitely going to help us."
On predicted a 10-win season: "If someone asks me a question, I feel like I'm always going to be honest. I didn't have any preconceived ideas going into it that this is what I was going to do, then the question came up and that's what I believe out of this team and the guys that are on it and the direction the coaching staff has us headed."
On fan skepticism of his prediction: "I don't mind that people are skeptical, as long as the people in our locker room aren't skeptical. I think that people believe it. Of course they're going to be skeptical, that's all they've seen. I didn't say it to try to convince anybody, or to persuade anybody. I said it because that's what I believe out of this football team."
On the depth of the offensive roster: "Well last year, basically, the fact that we were all new in the system, then we had guys that were playing that weren't even in training camp with all the injuries we had, but that did build depth; everybody's been in the system. You have a few rookies who haven't been here, but for the most part 95-percent of the guys on offense have been here, and so that's always going to be better for you."
On how his teammates feel about him predicting a 10-win season: "I don't know that anybody's half in it, I think that guys have expressed their confidence in it and happy that I said it. Again, that's not why I said it. I said it because I was asked the question, and then I was re-asked the question a couple months later so I'm not going to back down from it. That's who I think we are. Coach (Mike) Martz says it all the time, you are what you accept. We can't accept anything less than that.
On whether his prediction was controversial: "I just think, like you said, with the past it causes a little more of a stir. But the fact that the second time I was asked about it was in June, after the NBA playoffs and everything, it was a dead time so it got to be a bigger story than it really is."
On the depth at quarterback: "I think the more continuity you have as a quarterback the better. I've been in this league a long time and quarterback competitions, they produce division amongst your teammates. As much as you try not to, it does. For the guys to know who's coming out there every Sunday is a great thing, because then at least it puts components on them and then they can look at themselves. That's what we all did at the end of last year; (we asked ourselves) how can we all get better; individually and collectively. It definitely helps."
On leading the league in turnovers last season: "Well the turnover things are never just a one person thing. When they were my problem, the coaches made sure they pointed it out to me, and those are things that I'm working on. It's just making better decisions and being smarter and then getting leads in football games will help too, so now I think we'll do that."
On being on the same page as a team: "I think the team just understands the goal better, where as opposed to just trying to beat each other up. We understand the big picture now."
On the quarterback's perspective to the offensive system: "From anybody's perspective, in this system on the offensive side, you need to be here as much as you can be here. It is so content heavy, so it's good for him."
On the arrival of RB Tatum Bell: "He's a powerful runner, someone that can go the distance every time he touches the ball. He's a great addition to our offense and hopefully Kevin (Jones) comes back healthy and we'll have a stable back there."
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