Only 10 players remain from Lions' 0-16 team
When Cliff Avril joined the NFL, Tuesdays were off days and most of his Lions teammates kept it that way.
"Now your day off isn't really a day off, it's an extra day to get better," Avril said. "That's how we take it."
Avril is one of 10 players left from a roster that has seen significant turnover since Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz took over following a winless 2008.
The 10 players remaining on the Lions roster from the team Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz inherited after the 2008 season are: Cliff Avril, Jeff Backus, Gosder Cherilus, Andre Fluellen, Jason Hanson, Calvin Johnson, Don Muhlbach, Stephen Peterman, Dominic Raiola and Drew Stanton.
The upheaval was necessary -- no team had ever gone 0-16 -- and part of a deliberate plan to build the Lions into playoff contenders.
Along with high first-round picks Matthew Stafford, Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, who'll miss Sunday's opener against Tampa Bay with a foot injury, the Lions have stocked up on locker-room leaders still playing at a high level like Kyle Vanden Bosch and Stephen Tulloch.
"I really don't want to go there and talk too much about what we've built because it really doesn't matter what you build, it's how many games you win and the production of that," Schwartz said. "Are we in a better position than we were two years ago? Sure. Have we taken some big steps in personnel on this team? Yeah, we sure have. None of that means a thing if we don't do it on the field. That's my message to the team, and that'll continue to be my message."
When Cliff Avril joined the NFL, Tuesdays were off days and most of his Lions teammates kept it that way.
"Now your day off isn't really a day off, it's an extra day to get better," Avril said. "That's how we take it."
Avril is one of 10 players left from a roster that has seen significant turnover since Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz took over following a winless 2008.
The 10 players remaining on the Lions roster from the team Martin Mayhew and Jim Schwartz inherited after the 2008 season are: Cliff Avril, Jeff Backus, Gosder Cherilus, Andre Fluellen, Jason Hanson, Calvin Johnson, Don Muhlbach, Stephen Peterman, Dominic Raiola and Drew Stanton.
The upheaval was necessary -- no team had ever gone 0-16 -- and part of a deliberate plan to build the Lions into playoff contenders.
Along with high first-round picks Matthew Stafford, Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley, who'll miss Sunday's opener against Tampa Bay with a foot injury, the Lions have stocked up on locker-room leaders still playing at a high level like Kyle Vanden Bosch and Stephen Tulloch.
"I really don't want to go there and talk too much about what we've built because it really doesn't matter what you build, it's how many games you win and the production of that," Schwartz said. "Are we in a better position than we were two years ago? Sure. Have we taken some big steps in personnel on this team? Yeah, we sure have. None of that means a thing if we don't do it on the field. That's my message to the team, and that'll continue to be my message."
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