Lions won't capitalize on Bears injuries (well, maybe)

TDJets72027 · Sep 27, 2007

Lions offensive coordinator Mike Martz addressed the media this morning and here are some of the excerpts from that conversation:

On the Eagles game and why the offense looked great some times but struggled at others:

"Roy (Williams) got knocked out in that first series and then Calvin (Johnson) went out and we didn't intend to throw the ball like that, things just happen that way sometimes. We got out of some packages for awhile (because of the injuries) and I got discombobulated a little bit, trying to figure out who's in the game and that kind of thing. We got going again, but at times we were playing really well and other times we didn't, for whatever reason. All three backs went out of the game at one point or another and it's my responsibility, I was unaware of some of the personnel groupings. It was just one of those days.''

The Bears might be missing some key starters in the secondary, do you look at that at all?

"No, not really. I just never have, I don't worry about that. You just line up and go like crazy. We do what we do.''

Don't you look at matchups?

"It's by coverage design, not by how good somebody is. We just line up and play. In other words, if you're getting man-to-man coverage, you have a guy you like to go to. That doesn't change because it's a different guy. Whoever is going to play, they're in the league for a reason.''

So you look at matchups scheme-wise, not because of the players?

"Right. It's hard to do that (matchup with a player) because they might change it at the last minute and you don't get the matchup you thought you were going to get. You can really hurt yourself by trying to do all of that stuff.''

If their two starting corners are out, though, and they'll be at the end of their depth chart if you go four-wide, why wouldn't you go four-wide a ton?

"You don't have enough time, we could sit down and discuss this for a long time. If you could predict the matchups, then you do those things ... and, who knows, maybe we will. How do you know we won't? But it doesn't matter because these guys collect a paycheck, too. We put (St. Louis Rams quarterback) Marc Bulger in a game and he hadn't taken a snap at all, in practice, in camp or anything and started the sixth game of the season and ended up playing pretty well. You're making assumptions that these guys aren't good players - they're good players. That's why they're in that locker room, you have to be careful with that stuff. They're real good players, it's by structure and design that you're looking for matchups and you do that every week.''

Will Kevin Jones get more playing time this week?

"I don't know, I really don't know. It's kind of up to Kevin at this point. He's still trying to catch up mentally to what we're doing, he's still a little rusty and it might take another week or two for him to get a real good handle on what we're doing. We've got to be careful with him, too.''

What about the injuries up front, possibly losing LT Jeff Backus and RG Damien Woody (both have rib injuries)?

"See, now there you go. (Backups) Jonathan Scott and Stephen Peterman don't impair us at all. I think they're really good players, that's how I look at it. I'm excited about them playing, to be honest with you so whoever plays, will play well.''

About Jon Kitna's three red-zone interceptions:

"It's not good at all, that's something we've addressed. Some of that is by design, a poor design like the first one. I take full responsibility for that. The one last week he was trying to throw it out of bounds, he was trying to throw it out of the back of the end zone and just couldn't get enough on it. They were coming down on him, it was one of those things that happen.

"You end up doing things in a game like that that you normally wouldn't do, or want to do. You're trying to make throws that you don't normally make, just trying to get back into it and that kind of stuff.''

Jeff Backus clearly was not 100 percent (he was injured in warmups). Do you need your players to come clean about their playing condition?

"It's a learning deal for all of us. We all know Jeff and he's a fiery competitor and he did it in warmup. I don't think Jeff really understood how bad it was, to be honest with you. I think had he had a complete grasp of it ... when you practice all week and you're warming up, you're getting yourself emotionally ready to play. And then that happens - how do you back off of that? It's hard to do. We got caught off-guard a little bit with that, but I wouldn't blame anybody for that. It's just one of those things that happens. As soon as we recognized it, we tried to remedy it. It's unfortunate it happened.''

About the loss of Dan Campbell:

"Sean McHugh played exceptionally well in this game. Daniel is just a special, special player from a fundamental standpoint. He did everything perfectly, from the passing game to a route-runner to pass protector to run blocker, he was one of those guys. (McHugh) has come light years in that respect, he's done a wonderful job. It's just like talking about the cornerbacks for the Bears, somebody's going to step up and it's Wally Pipp, it's their time.''

Did you want to run more last week?

"Yeah, we really did, but you can't plan those things. When you step in front of that team and say 'Hey, we're going to do this and this' you don't know because you don't know how it's going to go. That's why it's hard to script 12 plays (to start a game) because after the fifth play you're looking at it and saying "I know I told you we were going to run this but I don't think we can do it' and it just creates some problems.''

What about right tackle George Foster, who has seven penalties, most of them on the road?

"The discipline of what we do cannot escape us just because we're on the road. Those are all concerns and (offensive line coach Jim Colletto) has addressed it with George. We've just got to get better at it. It's not something that's taken lightly, I can promise you that. None of these things are taken lightly. That's one of the things you love about Coach (Rod) Marinelli, the details are what we do, it's the most important thing to him. We grind these guys and he grinds us about that and we keep stressing the issue.''
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Source: MLive.com

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Lions won't capitalize on Bears injuries (well, maybe)

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Lions won't capitalize on Bears injuries (well, maybe)

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