Stafford Got To Start, Watch, Learn
--When Vikings QB Donovan McNabb entered the NFL in 1999, it was rare for quarterbacks to start as rookies.
"There wasn't a calling to try to get young guys in as fast as there is now," he said. "There was a process where you had to learn certain things, be able to see certain things on the field and the team had to have confidence in you. Now, some teams need to have their guy go in right now, for financial reasons or whatever."
Lions QB Matthew Stafford might have had the best of both worlds. He won the starting job as a rookie, but only played in 13 games his first two seasons. "Ever since I have played football I never sat out a year," Stafford said. "I was never redshirted in college so I never knew what that was like. I just wanted to play and learn from that. Every team is different and every situation is different, but I didn't play all 32 games those two years so I had some time to sit and watch. I had about as good a mix on that as anybody."
--WR/PR Stefan Logan gets paid to return kicks, but thus far, teams aren't giving him a chance. The Lions and Titans are the only two teams in the league who have yet to return a kickoff.
"It's like I tell our special teams group, don't be impatient," said Logan, who ranked in the top six in both kick and punt returns last season. "Look at it as a sign of respect. They see what we did last year. It's respect. But when we do get an opportunity, we are going to take advantage of it. It's tough. This is what I do for a living but when that time comes, and it will come, let's hit it and take it all the way."
--PK Jason Hanson was named NFC special teams player of the week -- the 11th time he's won that award in his career. "I'm sure it was the tackle," he said, laughing. Although Hanson did make a tackle Sunday, it was his two field goals, six extra points and the fact that he played in his 297th game with the Lions -- an NFL record -- that got him the honor. He was asked when he might win a defensive player of the week award and he cracked, "When I am not crying after a single tackle."
--WR Nate Burleson, off to one of the best starts of his career (12 catches, 153 yards), gives a tip of his cap to his running mate Calvin Johnson.
"Playing with Randy Moss, I know first-hand the benefits of playing with a guy that is going to attract a lot of attention," he said. "Calvin by far in my opinion is the best wide receiver in the league, and if you hadn't been paying attention, four touchdowns in two games the guy is pretty much showing everybody that he is.
"Being on his team, it gives me the ability not only to be on the outside and see a lot of single coverage, but to work the slot. I joked around early in the offseason and I said this year I'm going to try to be the black Wes Welker. So I'm going to get as many catches as I can in that slot and on the outside opposite of Calvin because he's going to attract a lot of attention all year."
--The Lions made a practice squad move Wednesday, signing WR Tim Toone, who spent the 2010 season on the Lions' practice squad, and releasing former Michigan CB Donovan Warren.
--On Tuesday, the Lions worked out three receivers, according to NFL reporter Adam Caplan: David Clowney, Hank Baskett and Johnnie Lee Higgins. They also worked out DE Everette Brown.
BY THE NUMBERS
11 -- Consecutive road losses to NFC North opponents.
13 -- Consecutive losses at the Metrodome in Minneapolis.
3,507 -- Combined points in the careers of kickers Jason Hanson (Detroit, 1,911) and Ryan Longwell (Minnesota, 1,596).
QUOTE TO NOTE
"When teams leave Calvin (Johnson) out there one-on-one, that's disrespectful to me. That's what happens -- you get dunked on. We got an aggressive coaching staff. We're going to stay fangs out." -- C Dominic Raiola on the Lions' step-on-your-throat mentality
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