SB Nation - Manny Ramirez

Thursday Notes: Calvin Johnson Practices, Kevin Smith Sidelined with Shoulder Injury

Sean Yuille — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 16:02:13 -0000

about 1 month ago: Detroit Lions running back Kevin Smith is stopped by St. Louis Rams defenders Quincy Butler (36), David Vobora, Paris Lenon and James Laurinaitis (55) in the first quarter of an NFL football game in Detroit, Sunday, Nov. 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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Although he was listed as limited, Calvin Johnson practiced on Wednesday with the No. 1 offense. That's a good sign, because even Matthew Stafford was listed as limited in practice. He was listed as limited last week as well, but he obviously ended up playing. For Calvin, it looks like he will be a game-time decision, which is probably what Kevin Smith will be as well. Smith missed yesterday's practice because the shoulder he injured during the Rams game is still sore. If Smith is unable to play on Sunday, Maurice Morris will step in as the starter, and you can probably expect to see more of Aaron Brown as well.
Jason Hunter finally returned to practice after missing a couple games. It would be nice to get him back for this weekend.
Wide receiver Eric Fowler has been signed to the practice squad by the Lions.
It looks like Manny Ramirez and Jon Jansen are competing for the starting spot at left guard.
Danny Amendola, the returner that got lit up by Zack Follett, has a concussion. When asked about the hit, Amendola said this:

"The hit didn't hurt, but my mind wasn't working," Amendola said. "I walked off, I think. Just got my head buzzed a little bit."
Zack Follett: he will hurt your mind.
Roy Williams complained to the media about how Tony Romo's passes to Miles Austin are thrown much better than when they go in his direction. I still can't believe we got a first- and third-round pick for him.

Friday Notes: Culpepper to Start; Lions Sign Alexander, Release Ervin

Sean Yuille — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 16:50:12 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

6 months ago: Detroit Lions quarterback Daunte Culpepper throws during football minicamp, Wednesday, June 24, 2009, in Allen Park, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)

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Daunte Culpepper will start for the Lions against Indianapolis tomorrow. Culpepper will play for all of the first quarter and half of the second. Matthew Stafford will come in after that and play until the end of the third quarter. (Drew Stanton will get to play in the fourth quarter.) The starters will be in the game for both Culpepper and Stafford, allowing the coaches to get a look at what each can do with the No. 1 offense.

Jim Schwartz cautioned to not read into this very much, as someone has to go out there first. He also made sure to mention that a starter probably won't be named until the week of the Saints game, and even then we probably won't hear who is getting the start until right before the game. That way the Saints have to spend time preparing for both quarterbacks.
The Lions signed linebacker Rufus Alexander and released running back Allen Ervin on Thursday. Alexander has previously played for the Vikings and Colts. Ervin had played quite well in the first preseason game before suffering an injury the next week in practice. He was not going to play on Saturday, and the Lions probably figured he wasn't going to make the team, so it's best to move on and give someone else a chance.
Starting cornerbacks Phillip Buchanon and Anthony Henry both will not play against the Colts. Keith Smith will play in his first preseason game, but I think Peyton Manning is going to have a field day with our secondary. He very well may have anyways, but with the starters out this probably will get ugly really quickly.
Dennis Northcutt has also been ruled out of tomorrow's game.
Kevin Smith and Ernie Sims are going to be game-time decisions tomorrow.
Brandon Pettigrew is going to play against Indianapolis.
Daniel Loper and Manny Ramirez are battling it out for the starting spot at left guard.
People were actually lined up at Ford Field's box office to buy Lions tickets when they went on sale Thursday morning.
With all of this talk about backup kickers lately, Jim Schwartz decided to show the team a clip of when offensive line coach George Yarno kicked an extra point back when he played for the Buccaneers. He was actually the long snapper, but when the starting kicker got hurt, Yarno ended up coming in as the emergency backup and did quite well.

(More after the jump)

The Vikings' locker room reportedly is already divided on Brett Favre.
Roy Williams hurt his shoulder last night during a Cowboys practice and will likely miss the rest of the preseason. There was a report from PFT that he broke his collarbone, but his X-rays came back negative.
The Broncos have suspended Brandon Marshall.
The Cowboys are not going to have to raise their giant scoreboard, as the NFL has simply created a do over rule, meaning that if a punt hits the scoreboard, the play will just be done again. I realize it would cost $2 million to raise the scoreboard, but this rule is just stupid. The Cowboys have spent over a billion dollars on the stadium already, so what's another $2 million? Besides, they are the ones responsible for not testing this out in the first place, so they should be responsible for fixing the problem. This rule will just cause problems, and I can't wait to see the outcry the first time a do over punt is blocked.

Wednesday Notes: Four Injured Lions Return to Practice

Sean Yuille — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 20:23:54 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

4 months ago: FILE -- This is a June 24, 2009, file photo showing Detroit Lions safety Louis Delmas watches during NFL football minicamp, in Allen Park, Mich. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya, File)

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Calvin Johnson and Louis Delmas returned to practice on Tuesday. Johnson was without his cast, but he didn't have any passes thrown to him just to be safe. Delmas made his presence felt by destroying Aaron Brown with a ferocious hit during today's practice. Jim Schwartz made sure to tell Delmas to be a bit more careful when jacking up teammates, but he seemed to enjoy the hit. Gunther Cunningham, as expected, seemed to like what he saw as well.
Casey FitzSimmons and John Standeford returned to practice today. FitzSimmons was limited, but the fact that he simply returned is good news, as I didn't expect him to be back so soon. Standeford fully participated in practice.
Wide receiver Kenneth Harris was carted off the field because of an ankle injury.
Daniel Loper didn't practice today and was replaced by Manny Ramirez at left guard.
Running back Allen Ervin was wearing a boot at practice because of an ankle injury. Jim Schwartz said it was more serious than a day-to-day issue, which is too bad. Ervin played well against the Falcons and certainly looked better than Aveion Cason. Ervin and Aaron Brown pulled ahead in the competition for the third running back spot for sure. Obviously Brown has the upper hand (and will continue to have it with Ervin out), but losing a player means less competition, which is never a good thing.

(More after the jump)

Jim Schwartz compared Brett Favre unretiring again to this famous quote from Godfather III: "Every time I think I'm out, they pull me back in."
Favre's decision to sign with the Vikings caused a big increase in ticket sales for the Lions. The Vikings play at Ford Field on September 20 -- the Lions' home opener -- and it seems like there is a very good chance of it being a sellout. In that sense, thank you, Brett Favre.
Nick Schuyler, the lone survivor of the boat accident that involved Corey Smith, was interviewed by Bryant Gumbel and recounted what happened during the tragedy.
Tarvaris Jackson's days with the Vikings are numbered, and it is expected that he will be released or traded by Friday. The Pioneer Press speculated that the Lions could be interested in him based on the fact that he was with the Vikings and has knowledge of their offense, but I highly doubt Detroit would waste anything on him. It's not like he would be anything more than the Lions' third-string QB, so I would be shocked if he ended up joining Detroit via a trade. If he does become a free agent, I wouldn't be too surprised if the Lions showed interest in signing him, but does anyone honestly think Jackson is going to sign with a team that already has a couple QBs that would be ahead of him?

Tuesday Notes: No Word on Jon Kitna's Health

Sean Yuille — Tue, 14 Oct 2008 06:35:39 -0000

The Lions aren't divulging any information about the status of Jon Kitna. He missed practice all last week and didn't even make the trip to Minnesota due to his back problems. Right now it is looking like he will miss the Texans game this upcoming Sunday, and there is some talk that he may be out even longer than another week or so.
Dan Orlovsky said this about the safety he caused on Sunday:

"When they started blowing the whistle, I was like, 'Did we false start or were they offsides or something?' " Orlovsky said. "And I looked, and I was just like, 'You're an idiot.' "
Bad play or not, Orlovsky is ready to start again if Kitna is too hurt to play this week.
Kevin Smith bruised his shoulder on the Lions' third play of Sunday's game. Smith caught a pass and tried to get to the first down marker but wound up a yard short. While trying to fight for extra yardage, he bruised his shoulder but stayed in the game and finished the first half. However, during halftime Smith tested his shoulder and didn't feel like it was strong enough for him to remain in the game, so he sat out the third and fourth quarters.
Rudi Johnson started the game for the Lions.
Brian Kelly returned to the starting lineup after not playing at all against the Bears.
The referee that upheld the Calvin Johnson fumble call in the fourth quarter had this to say about the play:

"In order to overturn any decision on the field, I have to have clear and visual evidence indisputable evidence of what I saw. From the shots that I got, his knee was on the ground as the ball was coming out. So the question is, was the ball coming out or was he firmly in control of the ball? It's impossible to tell. It's not indisputable that his knee was on the ground with control of the ball; therefore, I have to go with the call."
From the angles shown on TV, it looked pretty clear to me that Johnson's knee was down and he had control of the ball. Like I said in the game recap, he didn't lose the ball until a Vikings defender took it out of his hands, so it's not like it came loose or something like that.
Calvin Johnson didn't return after that play since he had blurry vision. He was hit in the helmet by one defender and bounced into the helmet of another, so it's no surprise that he was unable to return.
Shaun McDonald replaced Mike Furrey as the Lions' punt returner and seemed to have more success than Furrey.
As I posted in a FanShot yesterday, Leigh Bodden wants an apology for the blown pass interference call that sort of cost the Lions the game.
Chuck Darby left Sunday's game with a calf injury.
George Foster came in for Gosder Cherilus in the second half and played well. Manny Ramirez had a few good moments but was struggling for the most part, so he was replaced with Andy McCollum in the third quarter.

Thursday Notes: "Free" Tickets Being Offered by Gardner-White

Sean Yuille — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 22:23:17 -0000

Ernie Sims, Paris Lenon, and Drew Stanton are listed on this week's injury report for the Lions. The Packers have many more than just a few on their injury report, so I'll just mention them when the final injury report is released.
It now appears that Stephen Peterman will start against Green Bay at right guard. I relayed earlier today that it was reported Peterman was benched and Manny Ramirez would get the start, but now that doesn't look like it's going to happen.
Rookie offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus is going to get a decent amount of playing time on Sunday.
For details on how to get "free" tickets for Sunday's game from Gardner-White, check out this article. I will warn you, though, the free tickets only come after purchasing $500 of furniture.
PFT exchanged ten texts with Kevin Smith.
Despite fracturing a toe, Packers cornerback and former Michigan Wolverine Charles Woodson isn't going to miss any games.
Drew Stanton has begun throwing a football again.
The Lions are 31st in ESPN's week 2 power rankings.
Linebacker Al Wilson, who the Lions were once rumored to be interested in, has retired.

Lions Make Changes to Week 2 Depth Chart

Sean Yuille — Thu, 11 Sep 2008 06:37:18 -0000

With one game under their belts, Lions coaches now have a better idea of who should be starting. Although the preseason gives coaches a brief chance to get an idea of what the depth chart should be, it can only tell you so much. That is why after only one game there are quite a few changes to the Lions' depth chart.

The official changes that Rod Marinelli has confirmed are that newly signed wide receiver Brandon Middleton will replace Mike Furrey as the team's kick returner, Furrey will return punts instead of Shaun McDonald, and Leigh Bodden will start instead of Travis Fisher at cornerback. Tom Kowalski also reports that Manny Ramirez will replace Stephen Peterman at right guard and Daniel Bullocks will start at free safety instead of Gerald Alexander.

I'm all for the above-mentioned moves as changes did need to be made after how bad things went against Atlanta. Middleton looked good returning kicks in the preseason, and let's be honest, he can't be any worse than Furrey. Similarly, Furrey can't be any worse than McDonald at punt returner, so here's to hoping that part of the Lions' special teams also improves.

As far as Bodden starting instead of Fisher, I wonder why this move didn't happen sooner. Moving to the o-line, Stephen Peterman struggled at right guard last Sunday, so him getting replaced doesn't come as a big surprise. Finally, now that Daniel Bullocks is back to 100% health, he has retaken the starting job at free safety.

One other thing to mention is that Jordon Dizon will play more than he did against Atlanta. This is being done as he played pretty well on Sunday and this move can ease him in gradually. Eventually the hope is that he will be a starter, so the Lions are simply taking it one step at a time right now and are increasing his playing time game-by-game.

If all of the changes previously mentioned do happen, then below is what the Lions' depth chart should look like against Green Bay on Sunday.

OFFENSE
Pos.	First String		Second String		Third String
QB	8	Jon Kitna	6	Dan Orlovsky	5	Drew Stanton
HB	34	Kevin Smith	32	Rudi Johnson	33	Marcus Thomas
FB	45	Jerome Felton
WR	11	Roy Williams	84	Shaun McDonald
WR	81	Calvin Johnson	87	Mike Furrey	10	Brandon Middleton
TE	86	Michael Gaines	82	Casey FitzSimmons	83	John Owens
LT	76	Jeff Backus	74	Damion Cook
LG	64	Edwin Mulitalo
C	51	Dominic Raiola	67	Andy McCollum
RG	63	Manny Ramirez	66	Stephen Peterman
RT	72	George Foster	77	Gosder Cherilus
DEFENSE
Pos.	First String		Second String		Third String
LE	95	Jared DeVries	97	Ikaika Alama-Francis
NT	91	Chuck Darby	75	Shaun Cody	98	Landon Cohen
UT	78	Cory Redding	79	Langston Moore	96	Andre Fluellen
RE	99	Dewayne White	93	Corey Smith	92	Cliff Avril
WLB	50	Ernie Sims	54	Gilbert Gardner
MLB	53	Paris Lenon	57	Jordon Dizon
SLB	59	Alex Lewis	55	Ryan Nece
LCB	25	Brian Kelly	23	Keith Smith	38	Ramzee Robinson
RCB	28	Leigh Bodden	21	Travis Fisher
FS	27	Daniel Bullocks	42	Gerald Alexander	24	Kalvin Pearson
SS	26	Dwight Smith
SPECIAL TEAMS
Pos.	First String		Second String		Third String
K	4	Jason Hanson
P	2	Nick Harris
H	2	Nick Harris
LS	48	Don Muhlbach
PR	87	Mike Furrey
KR	10	Brandon Middleton

Monday Notes: Falcons Game Observations

Sean Yuille — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 06:00:09 -0000

Off the top of my head, Ernie Sims, Paris Lenon, and Dan Campbell left yesterday's game with injuries. Sims was actually carted off the field with an ankle injury right before halftime and was listed as questionable to return. He was really the only defensive player that wasn't having problems making tackles, so his loss definitely hurt.

Lenon hurt his knee and had it heavily wrapped on the bench and Campbell went out after re-injuring his hamstring. Campbell has been limited due to the hamstring injury and hurt it again after only one catch. I think Michael Gaines may have also been hurt, but I have not heard any details about what happened to him.

We should have an update on all of the injuries from the Atlanta game later today.
Jon Kitna was very, very frustrated in the first half of yesterday's game. He not only was yelling at teammates but actually started to get in the face of a couple offensive coaches. On two separate occasions he called a timeout and quickly went over to the sideline and started yelling at a coach. The first time it was passing coordinator Kippy Brown that felt Kitna's wrath, and the second time it was running backs coach Sam Gash.

Kitna did calm down once the Lions started to score some points, but it was pretty discouraging to see him that angry. I like that he was showing passion, but there's a fine line between being fiery and being out of line. I tend to think the latter was where Kitna was as he really had no right to get in the faces of his coaches like that.
Calvin Johnson is this team's new #1 receiver as far as I'm concerned. He caught 7 passes for 107 yards and was clearly Kitna's go-to guy. Roy Williams hauled in 3 passes for 47 yards and a touchdown and made a couple nice plays, but Johnson is the Lions' premier receiver now.
Jon Kitna shouldn't be blamed for the interception he threw at the start of the second half as it apparently was Roy Williams' fault. Roy ran the wrong route and left Lawyer Milloy by himself to make the diving interception.
Despite their improvements during the preseason, the defense was absolutely pathetic. I don't know if I've ever seen a game with more missed tackles. That was a big reason why the Falcons ended up with 318 rushing yards. Michael Turner set a single-game franchise record for rushing yards with 220 of his own. He also scored a pair of touchdowns and would have had three had it not been for a holding penalty. Even their backup, Jerious Norwood, ran for 93 yards and a touchdown.
The passing defense wasn't any better. Matt Ryan went 9/13 for 161 yards and 1 touchdown. That touchdown came on his first NFL pass as he hit Michael Jenkins for a 62-yard score. Travis Fisher looked terrible on multiple occasions and Leigh Bodden didn't look much better at times.

To make matters worse, the dominant defensive line we saw in the preseason was rarely dominant in yesterday's game. The Lions only had a single sack and never got much pressure on Matt Ryan, resulting in his nearly 70% completion rating.
Detroit did seem to get closer to becoming a balanced team offensively. They ran the ball 21 times and had 33 passing attempts. Keep in mind, if the Lions weren't playing from behind during the entire game the amount of passing attempts would have been lower. Since they were trailing, though, they had to air it out more to give themselves a chance to win.
Kevin Smith only rushed for 48 yards on 16 carries in his NFL debut, but he didn't look bad by any means. There were more than a few plays where the offensive line was blown up and Smith had literally nowhere to run. Once or twice he was able to actually gain yards despite the terrible blocking, and on plays when there was a hole open he made a play. Plus, he did score a touchdown, which is great for any rookie in their first game.
Rudi Johnson only had 3 carries for 14 yards in this game. It's not surprising he didn't get more carries as he still is learning the playbook. The announcers said he barely knew any blocking assignments for passing plays, which is probably why he went in motion to the outside on the passing plays he was in the game for.
As mentioned when discussing Kevin Smith, the offensive line did not play well. Smith was tackled right when he got the handoff a few times, and Kitna's protection wasn't that great, either.
The Lions' inactives against Atlanta were as follows: QB Drew Stanton, OG Manny Ramirez, DE Ikaika Alama-Francis, DT Andre Fluellen, DT Landon Cohen, LB Gilbert Gardner, and CB Ramzee Robinson. Alama-Francis was bumped to the inactive list by DE Cliff Avril.
Even though there are still two games tonight that will affect the opening week of fantasy football, I am in good enough shape to start bragging about how sweet of an owner I am. In all three of my leagues I am not only ahead but am destroying my opponents. In the official POD League I am currently up on Maize 'n' Blue Jays 109.70-77.16. In the POD Overflow League I control a lead of 117.88-57.40. And finally, in the league that involves bloggers from both SB Nation and the AOL FanHouse, I am up 97.00-37.90.

I wasn't expecting to have all three of my teams turn out to be this good already, but I'm pleasantly surprised. Even my poorly drafted team in the official league put up 100+ points, although the big reason for that was that I had Michael Turner starting. We all got an up close look at how great of a game he had.
As far as fantasy football goes, I plan on posting an update on the official league every Tuesday. The update will include scores from each game and a quick recap of how each team did. I will also keep you guys updated on how I do in the overflow league as well as the SBN-AOL one.
Regarding my general posting schedule for the week that I will follow throughout the season, on top of the fantasy football update, I will also do a week whatever recap every Tuesday. I haven't decided on the exact format just yet, but I will try to briefly provide a recap of each game and/or will direct you to other SBN blogs for more information.

In general, what I expect my posting schedule or routine to look like is this: On Sunday nights/Mondays, I will recap the Lions game and discuss general things from it. On Tuesday, I will update fantasy football and the NFL. Moving on to Wednesday, I will wrap up coverage on the Lions' last game and begin to look ahead to their next one. Then Thursday will be spent really looking at the Lions' next opponent, and Friday and Saturday will get you ready for Sunday. I'll still have notes every day and keep you updated on any Lions news, but that will be in addition to what I listed above.
Ex-Lions tight end Sean McHugh was signed by the Steelers.
Chad Johnson, err, Chad Ocho Cinco, wasn't allowed to wear his new last name on his jersey this week due to a dispute with Reebok over unsold merchandise. I'm sure Ocho Cinco will have no problem buying his old unsold jerseys considering his new one will have little trouble selling.
The Jets were left in a predicament against Miami after kicker Mike Nugent got hurt in the first quarter of yesterday's game. Backup QB Kellen Clemens and safety Kerry Rhodes were actually attempting kickoffs before the second half in warm-ups. Thankfully for the Jets' sake neither was needed as Nugent returned in the third quarter.