Detroit Sports Thread

[NATEDOG001976]

Joey Harrington...muuuuhaha...lol

[NightProwler]

I hope I live long enough to see the lions win ONE Super Bowl.

I doubt it will EVER happen.

[ALinChainz]

Originally posted by NATEDOG001976
Lions sucks, Vikings rule!

That is some deep sports insight there dude ... I'm impressed.

[ALinChainz]

Manning was a quick study

Harrington, take note: Colts quarterback took criticism early in his career and learned from it.

By Vartan Kupelian and Mike O'Hara / The Detroit News


Marcus Pollard brings qualities to the Lions that could prove to be invaluable for a team that is trying to climb the standings with young legs.

The Lions will get leadership from Pollard, a 33-year-old tight end, and he'll add perspective from his 10 seasons with the Indianapolis Colts.

Pollard saw the Colts grow into contention twice. He was a rookie on the 1995 team that lost to Pittsburgh in the AFC championship game and an established player when the Colts drafted quarterback Peyton Manning first overall in 1998 to begin a rebuilding project.

Pollard's association with Manning offers an interesting reference point as Joey Harrington begins his fourth season with the Lions and his third as the full-time starting quarterback. Pollard has been a Lion for two months and a week since signing as a free agent, and he is well aware of the criticism Harrington gets -- some of it for the upbeat demeanor he presents in most interviews.

What was Manning like as a young player?

"When he first got there, it was a challenge," Pollard said in an interview this week.

"He had a certain way that he did it in college. He really got on the guys. He was in their face."

The fire-breathing, in-your-face quarterback might be popular fodder on the talk shows and with some fans, but it doesn't go over well with veteran players. The Colts' veterans had a sit-down with Manning and told him to cool it.

"With some veteran leaders around, they said, 'Everybody wants to win at this level,' " Pollard said. "'You don't have to be so demanding. You don't have to be in guys' faces.' A lot of guys don't respond well to that."

Manning is a quick study. He has learned more than how to read defenses. He took the advice to heart.

"He really took that criticism and learned from it," Pollard said. "Now, he's amazing."


Cash & Carry


Harrington's contract situation has created a buzz. He will be in the fourth year of a six-year contract in 2005, and a bonus payment of $3 million is due next month. His base salary for 2005 is $4.95 million.

Before the end of last season, Harrington said he was willing to restructure his contract if it gave the Lions any salary-cap problems.

Apparently, that won't be necessary. The Lions are prepared to carry Harrington's contract as it stands, president Matt Millen said.

"It's not an issue," Millen said. "We've already budgeted it."


The Detroit News

[ALinChainz]

Lions rookie is Marshall anomaly

BY CURT SYLVESTER, FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

Mention Marshall University in the NFL, and the response is predictable.


"They usually say, 'That's the school that Byron or Chad or Moss went to, right?' " said Lions rookie linebacker Johnathan Goddard. "Marshall's usually offensive guys, so they're like, 'What's going on?' "



Goddard gets that response because he plays defense, not offense.


Byron Leftwich, quarterback of the Jacksonville Jaguars and a first-round draft pick in 2003, is the most recent of the Marshall offensive whizzes.


Before that came New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington, a first-round pick in 2000.


Wide receiver Randy Moss, recently traded by Minnesota to the Oakland Raiders, started the current run of Marshall players when he was drafted in the first round in 1998.


Now Goddard is hard at work with the rest of the rookies, hoping to show the Lions that Marshall defensive players are good enough to play in the NFL, too. He already has some evidence of that.


Rogers Beckett, a second-round draft pick out of Marshall in 2000, is a strong safety with the Cincinnati Bengals, and Chris Crocker, a third-round pick in 2003, is a free safety with the Cleveland Browns.


"There are some other ones," Goddard said. "They weren't big names like Leftwich and them, but they were good players."


And their presence in the NFL is encouraging to Goddard, who has set his sights on the NFL since he began playing Pop Warner football in Jacksonville, Fla., when he was 6 years old.


"It just shows you can do it if you work hard at it," he said. "It doesn't really matter what kind of school you go to as long as you show them you can go out there and play hard, keep it going. They'll come after you."


The Lions came after Goddard, but as a sixth-round pick and the last player they drafted, he faces an uphill battle to make the team.


Although he led the nation with 16 sacks and 28 1/2 tackles for loss as a defensive end in his final season at Marshall, Goddard will have to switch to linebacker with the Lions.


At a trace taller than 6 feet and weighing in at 238 pounds, Goddard doesn't have the size to battle 350-pound offensive tackles on the line of scrimmage.


He will have to use his quickness as a linebacker and a special-teams player.


In addition, he is being thrown into competition with a solid group of promising young linebackers the Lions have put together in the past three drafts.


Goddard thinks the most difficult adjustment will be handling pass coverage assignments as an outside linebacker. He said he had occasional coverage responsibilities at Marshall, but it was always part of a designed defense.


With the Lions, he will have to make instant decisions about whether to drop into coverage or handle other responsibilities.


"There's a lot of different things you're seeing now, different things you have to look at," Goddard said. "More people to read, dropping back in coverage.


"It's a little tough. I've got a good coach -- Johnny (Holland) -- and the rest of the linebackers are helping me out to make sure I get everything. It's a big adjustment, but I think I can get through it."


If Goddard fails, it won't be because he didn't give it his best shot. He started preparing last fall at Marshall.


"I studied the game a lot more than I had in the past," he said. "That helped me a lot -- going out there knowing what's going on with the cadence and the count. That helps a lot, helps you get off the ball quick.


"That was me wanting to go to the NFL, knowing I've got to study and get better at it, get better than I was already."


And he works at it, he said, because the game means a lot to him.


"It's real important to me," he said. "It's always in my dreams. I've been playing football since I was 6. I love the game; I don't know what I'd do without it."

[ALinChainz]

Red Zone Production A Focus For Lions' Staff

Scout.com - Scout.com


May 23, 2005 at 2:04am ET


(ALLEN PARK) -- One of the areas coach Steve Mariucci and offensive coordinator Ted Tollner will be focused on as the Lions begin preparations for the 2005 NFL season is the team's red zone production.

Only two teams -- Jacksonville and Chicago -- were less effective than he Lions in converting its red zone possessions into touchdowns during the 2004 season.


The Bears converted only 16 of 38 red zone opportunities (42.1 percent) and Jacksonville was only slightly better with 19 touchdowns in 45 opportunities (42.2 percent).

And, the Lions -- at No. 30 among the league's 32 teams in red zone conversions -- turned just 44.2 percent of their opportunities into touchdowns. They had 43 red zone possessions but managed to score only 19 touchdowns on their way to 186 red zone points (including 18 field goals).

The Lions figure to improve on last year's performance with a more experienced running game (Kevin Jones is in his second season) and fewer drops by their receivers than the 50 recorded by the Lions coaching staff in 2004.

The Lions obviously have a long way to go to join the teams at the top of red zone efficiency -- San Diego (69.8 percent conversion) and Kansas City (67.8 percent).

[ALinChainz]

Rookie's head swimming at WR

Williams learning difficulties of NFL

June 16, 2005


BY CURT SYLVESTER
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER



After three weeks of minicamps, Mike Williams is getting the hang of it.


"The first minicamp I was probably in that playbook maybe 15 minutes," Williams said. "The second minicamp I was in that book maybe 20 or 30 minutes. The (last) minicamp, an hour or an hour and 10 or 15 minutes. And you're still messing up."


Welcome to the NFL, rookie.


Williams, the Lions' first pick in the draft, is learning just what's involved in playing any of four wide receiver positions in the NFL. And there's a whole lot more involved than meets the eye.


Although coach Steve Mariucci has him listed as the backup to Charles Rogers at the split end position, Williams is also learning the plays as the backup to flanker Roy Williams and he has also run plays from the slot position on both sides of the formation.


He has no complaints about his work load.


"It's kind of good that you put yourself in a position to play more," Williams said. "The more you know, the more coaches feel you can help them."


There is a frustration factor involved, however.


"You're playing as hard as you can and doing what you can do, and you're going the wrong way," Williams said. "When you're in practice they don't care that you mixed this play up with another position, because you're wasting everybody's time, you're wasting a rep.


"But when you get into the meeting room, they're like, 'Ah, we know you're still learning.' But I'd rather be where I'm at now. I'm glad I've had to learn so many positions and so much at one time."


Williams is making the adjustment to the NFL after missing a full year of football. He played just two seasons at Southern Cal and left school after the 2003 season, expecting to join running back Maurice Clarett of Ohio State in an early entry into the NFL.


When the courts ruled that Clarett could not be drafted, Williams also was excluded. He spent a considerable amount of time working with former Minnesota receiver Cris Carter in Florida, but the Lions' post-draft minicamps marked his first real training since his final game at USC.


Although it has been an adjustment, Williams might take comfort in knowing that his efforts are appreciated.


"You see flashes but there are mistakes made out there," quarterback Joey Harrington said. "That's to be expected. But, like I've said all along, what I really like is that the young guys are making an effort to learn from it.


"They make a mistake, they know they messed up and they come back and figure out what they can do better, then go out and fix it the next time. That's what you love to see. The young guys are working hard. I'm very encouraged by that."


Harrington is one of the teammates who helps the rookie receiver when he gets the chance. Fellow receivers Roy Williams and Rogers, who have been around only slightly longer than Mike Williams, also supplement the instruction he gets from receivers coach Fred Graves and offensive coordinator Ted Tollner.


"Coach Graves is on me," Mike Williams said. "He's that guy, he's on you like, 'You do this, yada yada yada.' Coach Tollner is like, 'C'mon, Mike, let's go.' And Roy and all those guys, you watch them do it and when you don't do it right, they pull you aside and say, 'Oh, you've got to do it this way.'


"When you're trying to learn, trying to do well, you've got to be receptive to every form of criticism from every angle. You get to the point where (cornerback) Dre' Bly will be like, 'You're open but you'd be more open if you did this.' It's a good situation to be in a good group of guys that want you to do well."


There's no doubt that his Lions teammates want Mike Williams to do well. Harrington already is visualizing Mike Williams, Roy Williams and Rogers in action when the Lions get into scoring territory next fall.


"Big targets," Harrington said. "I think it'll be good for us because they're big targets down in the end zone.


"We've struggled at times; we've had to settle for field goals sometimes when we didn't make plays down there. And having guys like that -- who can screen out the defender and you can throw a high ball to -- will really help out."


Mike Williams might not be there yet, but he's getting the idea. Check back in September; the Lions expect he'll be ready to go.

[POJO_Risin]

Their red zone offense should be incredible with Williams and Pollard and really Rogers...added to the mix...

[ALinChainz]

Roy and Mike Williams ... Pollard ... a hopefully healthy Rogers ... Kevin Johnson .... and RB Kevin Jones ....

I know I'm freakin' STOKED.

[POJO_Risin]

I do hope for your sake that Harrington can look good now...because if Garcia is your starter...I still contend that there will be trouble afoot in Lion land...

[ALinChainz]

Hopefully ... we did upgrade the line also in free agency.

Hell, the real QB of the future may be the 6-5 230 Orvolosky (sp) out of UConn we drafted in the 5th I believe.

This being Joey's 4th season, even with the youth at the skill positions, he has to come through. Brees finally made some noise, hoping Joey will.

[ALinChainz]

Lions Secondary Will Enter Camp Strong As Ever

Scout.com - Scout.com
June 20, 2005 at 11:28am ET


With the addition of seven-year veteran R.W. McQuarters to the roster, the Lions will go to training camp next month assured of stiff competition at the cornerback position.

With the addition of seven-year veteran R.W. McQuarters to the roster, the Lions will go to training camp next month assured of stiff competition at the cornerback position.

The roster will include 10 cornerbacks. Five of them have started at one time or another in the NFL and another three are young players the Lions feel can develop into capable players.


At the top of the list are two-time Pro Bowl cornerback Dre' Bly , McQuarters and Fernando Bryant , who was signed by the Lions as an unrestricted free agent a year ago but missed much of the 2004 season with an ankle injury.

Next in line are Andre Goodman and Chris Cash , three year veterans drafted in 2002 who have had limited success - in part because of injury problems.

Keith Smith , a third-round pick in the 2004 draft, made a good impression as a rookie and is almost certain to make the roster; Stanley Wilson , this year's third-round pick, has excellent speed and promising coverage ability; and Michael Echols, a third-year player plucked from Minnesota's practice squad late last season.

Jeff Sanchez , who played in NFL Europe this spring, and undrafted rookie Brandon Payne of New Mexico, have their work cut out for them just to get consideration for the practice squad.

The Lions also added veteran strong safety Kenoy Kennedy , an unrestricted free agent from Denver, to the secondary.

"This is the best our defensive backs have looked in a long time," said Lions president Matt Millen.

[Warham]

I had no idea they signed McQuarters.

[ALinChainz]

They felt it better to go that route as he has played some safety also than to gamble on Ty Law, who was 20 lbs overweight but had started running. The Lions know Law wants still the prime CB money, although not sure what team would.

The foot is still a question. McQuarters playing for Mooch before didn't hurt. And the fact they are at a standstill with KR Eddie Drummond might have had some influence.

[ALinChainz]

Mariucci Claims Off-Season "By Far" Team's Best

Scout.com - Scout.com

June 26, 2005 at 1:02am ET


(ALLEN PARK) -- After four years and a steady diet of losing game after game, it might take more than personnel changes to get the Lions back to respectability. And that is what coach Steve Mariucci has been working on during the six months since the end of the 2004 NFL season.

Mariucci is hoping to establish a new attitude on this year's team, in addition to getting his players physically prepared for the start of training camp in late July and the regular season in September.


"I think these guys are very in tune to what sort of calendar year we expect from them in terms of the entire body at work," Mariucci said. "From the 14 weeks in the off-season through the mini-camps, through being in shape before they get to training camp, the certain tempo in the way we practice and developing a certain work ethic."

Although Lions coaches seem to inevitably say "this year's" off-season workouts are the best ever, it has done little for the team's fortunes the past four years.

The Lions were 2-14 in 2001, 3-13 in 2002, 5-11 in 2003 and 6-10 last year. Although there has been improvement every year, it is at a pace that won't get them back to .500 for two more seasons and into a contender's role for another two or three years after that.

In Mariucci's third season, he is hoping that the combination of physical preparation and mental attitude will accelerate the pace of the Lions return to respectability.

"A system and a philosophy have to be ingrained and we are doing that, and we have done that," he said. "There are new faces every year to incorporate but I have been really pleased with this off-season so far this has been by far our best off-season."