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There has to be a gif of this somewhere.
I'll make whomever posts it a moderator. You can have dbairs spot.
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What if I find it? Do I get to become owner?
2011 Week 4 Chatter - Lions @ Cowboys
Fairley could play Sunday
BY CARLOS MONARREZ AND DAVE BIRKETT
The Lions are reportedly hopeful that defensive tackle and first-round draft pick Nick Fairley will be able to play in his first game of the season Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported during halftime of the network's "Monday Night Football" broadcast: "The Lions are hopeful that he can come back from the foot surgery that he underwent for a stress fracture. They'll monitor him throughout the week and try to ease him back in on select passing downs."
Fairley, the 13th overall pick out of Auburn, returned to practice Friday on a limited basis for the first time since he suffered a fractured left foot in training camp Aug. 1.
"This was a big step," Lions coach Jim Schwartz said Friday. "He'd been doing a lot of stuff on the side and doing a lot of lifting and conditioning and things like that, but actually putting a helmet on -- he doesn't even have any stickers on his helmet. It's just part of the process, though."
Fairley started running with trainers behind closed doors last week and still appeared to have a slight limp when he walked off the practice field Wednesday.
On Friday, though, he moved well through a series of position drills before reporters were escorted out of practice
Fairley could play Sunday
BY CARLOS MONARREZ AND DAVE BIRKETT
The Lions are reportedly hopeful that defensive tackle and first-round draft pick Nick Fairley will be able to play in his first game of the season Sunday against the Dallas Cowboys in Arlington, Texas.
Adam Schefter of ESPN reported during halftime of the network's "Monday Night Football" broadcast: "The Lions are hopeful that he can come back from the foot surgery that he underwent for a stress fracture. They'll monitor him throughout the week and try to ease him back in on select passing downs."
Fairley, the 13th overall pick out of Auburn, returned to practice Friday on a limited basis for the first time since he suffered a fractured left foot in training camp Aug. 1.
"This was a big step," Lions coach Jim Schwartz said Friday. "He'd been doing a lot of stuff on the side and doing a lot of lifting and conditioning and things like that, but actually putting a helmet on -- he doesn't even have any stickers on his helmet. It's just part of the process, though."
Fairley started running with trainers behind closed doors last week and still appeared to have a slight limp when he walked off the practice field Wednesday.
On Friday, though, he moved well through a series of position drills before reporters were escorted out of practice
Detroit Lions hoping for 'some decent news' on injured linebacker Isaiah Ekejiuba
ALLEN PARK — The Lions appeared to finish the Vikings game in relatively good health, but linebacker Isaiah Ekejiube did leave the field early on Sunday after injuring his shoulder in the first half.
Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz was clearly concerned the injury could require more than just a few days off for the rangy 29-year-old special teams demon.
"He wasn't able to finish with a shoulder, so that's never a great sign," Schwartz explained. "He's going through testing and stuff today. Hopefully we'll get some - I don't want to say good news - but we'll get some decent news with that."
Cornerback Aaron Berry also left the game with a groin injury and did not return. His status is unknown.
ALLEN PARK — The Lions appeared to finish the Vikings game in relatively good health, but linebacker Isaiah Ekejiube did leave the field early on Sunday after injuring his shoulder in the first half.
Detroit head coach Jim Schwartz was clearly concerned the injury could require more than just a few days off for the rangy 29-year-old special teams demon.
"He wasn't able to finish with a shoulder, so that's never a great sign," Schwartz explained. "He's going through testing and stuff today. Hopefully we'll get some - I don't want to say good news - but we'll get some decent news with that."
Cornerback Aaron Berry also left the game with a groin injury and did not return. His status is unknown.
Lions offensive tackles must rebound after poor showing against Vikings
ALLEN PARK — As a general rule, offensive linemen don't want to be the focus of anyone's attention. If they are, it's generally for something negative.
A false start. A hold. Giving up a sack.
Unfortunately for Jeff Backus, he experienced all three in Detroit's 26-23 overtime win against Minnesota on Sunday. In one particular series at the end of the game, he had two consecutive false starts and then allowed a sack to Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.
It certainly wasn't the finest hour of Backus' 10-year career at left tackle.
Then again, on a day when Minnesota's quick, strong and experienced defensive line presented the stiffest challenge of the first three games of the season for Detroit's offensive line, there were struggles all around.
"We can play better," head coach Jim Schwartz admitted. "Obviously we had taken zero sacks in the first two games and took five here."
In addition to the five sacks were a couple of hits on quarterback Matthew Stafford, who Lions fans were happy to see survive the rough day at the office injury free. But the offensive line is a complex unit to analyze without the benefit of knowing each lineman's role on a given play. Sometimes other offensive players are responsible for a quarterback feeling pressure from the defense.
"On the very first sack there was a snap count issue," Schwartz said. "We had one sack that somebody ran the wrong route and the quarterback was waiting on a different route and had nowhere to go with the football.
"When we are not taking sacks, we're saying, 'Hey is the offensive line playing really well?' Well a lot of it is receivers getting open, quarterback getting rid of the ball and all those kind of things. But we can play better. We need to play better."
In addition to the crowd noise, Lions blockers had to deal with the return of Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams. Detroit's interior linemen -- Rob Sims, Dominic Raiola and Stephen Peterman -- kept the 6-foot-5, 311-pounder rather quiet, as he had just one quarterback hit and two tackles, one for a loss.
It was on the edge where Minnesota was so effective, though. Allen, the All-Pro defensive end, and Brian Robinson were relentless, totaling five sacks and terrorizing not just Backus but starting right tackle Gosder Cherilus.
Cherilus, whose play in the season opener caused him to lose his starting spot against Kansas City in Week 2, was benched again versus the Vikings. Corey Hilliard came in for Cherilus after just two series though, to be fair, it didn't make much of a difference.
Schwartz wouldn't say the position is up for grabs, but he was clearly uneasy with where things are at over on the right side.
"Well it's too early to say (there's competition)," he said. "But I'll just say this: we need to be more effective at that position. I think I will leave it there.
"It wasn't just one play. Gosder lost his feet on one play and Robison was able to go right past him. Just like the rest of the offensive line, there are a lot of things we can do better and we need to do better. But it is too early at this point to have any plans."
Schwartz doesn't have the same concern on the other side. He wasn't pleased with his left tackle's poor play - which had nothing to do with an offseason pectoral injury - but knows Backus is capable of bouncing back with a strong performance next week.
"Jeff has an awful lot of playing experience and he takes a lot of pride in his play," Schwartz said. "But just like in general terms from the whole offensive line, Jeff can play better and he will play better."
Despite criticism from outside observers, to the Lions, there is no controversy about Backus' ability to protect the franchise's prize possession in Stafford. The 34-year-old struggled at the start of last season, but rebounded to have one of the better seasons of his career.
"I think if you circle back to (the) first two weeks last year," Schwartz said, "there was probably a lot of the same sentiment amongst people outside the organization."
At any rate, Detroit offensive linemen know they have to improve if the Lions are going to continue their success - the ineffective run game is more of a concern than one off game of pass blocking. The team mustered just 20 yards on 19 carries against the Vikings, and is now 26th in the NFL with 78 yards a game.
For now, though, the team is undefeated. As Schwartz said at the start of his weekly press conference on Monday, it's better to play poorly and be critical of a win than to play well and lose.
"It's good to be 3-0, it's good to be able to nitpick over things when you're 3-0 and there are points that you can make," he said. "I think that if you go down to our locker room after each of these three weeks, there's nobody that felt that we played our best football yet."
ALLEN PARK — As a general rule, offensive linemen don't want to be the focus of anyone's attention. If they are, it's generally for something negative.
A false start. A hold. Giving up a sack.
Unfortunately for Jeff Backus, he experienced all three in Detroit's 26-23 overtime win against Minnesota on Sunday. In one particular series at the end of the game, he had two consecutive false starts and then allowed a sack to Vikings defensive end Jared Allen.
It certainly wasn't the finest hour of Backus' 10-year career at left tackle.
Then again, on a day when Minnesota's quick, strong and experienced defensive line presented the stiffest challenge of the first three games of the season for Detroit's offensive line, there were struggles all around.
"We can play better," head coach Jim Schwartz admitted. "Obviously we had taken zero sacks in the first two games and took five here."
In addition to the five sacks were a couple of hits on quarterback Matthew Stafford, who Lions fans were happy to see survive the rough day at the office injury free. But the offensive line is a complex unit to analyze without the benefit of knowing each lineman's role on a given play. Sometimes other offensive players are responsible for a quarterback feeling pressure from the defense.
"On the very first sack there was a snap count issue," Schwartz said. "We had one sack that somebody ran the wrong route and the quarterback was waiting on a different route and had nowhere to go with the football.
"When we are not taking sacks, we're saying, 'Hey is the offensive line playing really well?' Well a lot of it is receivers getting open, quarterback getting rid of the ball and all those kind of things. But we can play better. We need to play better."
In addition to the crowd noise, Lions blockers had to deal with the return of Vikings defensive tackle Kevin Williams. Detroit's interior linemen -- Rob Sims, Dominic Raiola and Stephen Peterman -- kept the 6-foot-5, 311-pounder rather quiet, as he had just one quarterback hit and two tackles, one for a loss.
It was on the edge where Minnesota was so effective, though. Allen, the All-Pro defensive end, and Brian Robinson were relentless, totaling five sacks and terrorizing not just Backus but starting right tackle Gosder Cherilus.
Cherilus, whose play in the season opener caused him to lose his starting spot against Kansas City in Week 2, was benched again versus the Vikings. Corey Hilliard came in for Cherilus after just two series though, to be fair, it didn't make much of a difference.
Schwartz wouldn't say the position is up for grabs, but he was clearly uneasy with where things are at over on the right side.
"Well it's too early to say (there's competition)," he said. "But I'll just say this: we need to be more effective at that position. I think I will leave it there.
"It wasn't just one play. Gosder lost his feet on one play and Robison was able to go right past him. Just like the rest of the offensive line, there are a lot of things we can do better and we need to do better. But it is too early at this point to have any plans."
Schwartz doesn't have the same concern on the other side. He wasn't pleased with his left tackle's poor play - which had nothing to do with an offseason pectoral injury - but knows Backus is capable of bouncing back with a strong performance next week.
"Jeff has an awful lot of playing experience and he takes a lot of pride in his play," Schwartz said. "But just like in general terms from the whole offensive line, Jeff can play better and he will play better."
Despite criticism from outside observers, to the Lions, there is no controversy about Backus' ability to protect the franchise's prize possession in Stafford. The 34-year-old struggled at the start of last season, but rebounded to have one of the better seasons of his career.
"I think if you circle back to (the) first two weeks last year," Schwartz said, "there was probably a lot of the same sentiment amongst people outside the organization."
At any rate, Detroit offensive linemen know they have to improve if the Lions are going to continue their success - the ineffective run game is more of a concern than one off game of pass blocking. The team mustered just 20 yards on 19 carries against the Vikings, and is now 26th in the NFL with 78 yards a game.
For now, though, the team is undefeated. As Schwartz said at the start of his weekly press conference on Monday, it's better to play poorly and be critical of a win than to play well and lose.
"It's good to be 3-0, it's good to be able to nitpick over things when you're 3-0 and there are points that you can make," he said. "I think that if you go down to our locker room after each of these three weeks, there's nobody that felt that we played our best football yet."
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I hope Ware or someone shatters Stafford's femur.
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oh, ES. How I love you after a loss to Dallas.
I already done did that.
And I think Miles/Dez will both play this weekend. I'd take the over. I think it'll be a shoot out.
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I'm really excited for possible Calvin Johnson vs Alan ball match ups.
Bob Sacamano
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The only thing that sucks about that is they're eventually going to get the mindset that they are allowed a margin of error because they can, "come back and win it". That's not always going to be the case, so I hope Garrett can come up with a motivational ploy to keep that from happening. Some good, 'ole, Bill Parcells, "we still have a lot of work to do" would be pretty good. Though in moderation. Either way, Garrett needs to preach that the players have to remain sharp.
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LAZARUS_LOGAN
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Those guys are delusional over there. They are now claiming that Ware had 3 offside penalties that went uncalled. The nonly offsides from Ware I saw, was the one that was indeed called. Saying that Romo had a few intentional grounding that went uncalled, claiming that the Cowboys Oline was constantly holding. I wonder what game did they watch?
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Goes to show you, everyone thinks the refs are against them.
LAZARUS_LOGAN
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Yeah, I understand that. But did you listen to the commentators last night, specifically Gruden? They didn't have a dog in the fight. But they pointed out the bad officiating directed towards the Cowboys.
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