SB Nation - Ephraim Salaam

Tuesday Notes: Lions Claim Maurice Williams, Release Ephraim Salaam

Sean Yuille — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:48:47 -0000

The Lions have claimed offensive lineman Maurice Williams. Williams was waived by the Jaguars over the weekend after playing for them since 2001. He is from the city of Detroit and went to the University of Michigan, where he started at right tackle alongside the likes of Jeff Backus and Steve Hutchinson. Williams was also a member of the Wolverines when Jon Jansen started at right tackle. In the NFL, Williams has started 100 of the 105 games he's played in, and it seems like he is a good addition for depth purposes if he can stay healthy. The Lions don't exactly have the best situation at guard, so it looks like Williams could help at that position.
To make room on the roster for Williams, the Lions released offensive tackle Ephraim Salaam.
The Lions might work out punters this week because Nick Harris hurt his knee while making a tackle against Cincinnati.
Jim Schwartz was understandably pissed off over some of the costly and stupid penalties the Lions got on Sunday.
Bryant Johnson's eyes looked a little odd on Sunday, but that was just because he wears tinted contacts.
Louis Delmas went into Sunday's game ready to talk trash with Chad Ochocinco, and considering Delmas knocked #85 out of the game with a big hit, I think he has definitely earned the right to. Delmas went over to Ochocinco to make sure he was alright after the hit, and they had a nice exchange. Ochocinco wasn't out for long and continued to improve on his big game, but overall I thought Delmas did a great job on Sunday.
The Lions' road losing streak is up to 18 games.

Thursday Notes: Inconsistency Highlights 7-on-7 Drill

Sean Yuille — Thu, 06 Aug 2009 20:32:15 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

4 months ago: Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford (9) throws during at NFL football training camp in Allen Park, Mich., Thursday, Aug. 6, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

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Louis Delmas missed practice again today and is officially day-to-day with a knee injury.
Grady Jackson missed the morning session of practice yesterday, but it wasn't because he was injured. Jackson and Ephraim Salaam both only participated in one practice, as the Lions want to slowly ease them into camp, especially Jackson since he had only practiced once since signing with Detroit.
Jordon Dizon and John Standeford missed the afternoon session of practices yesterday due to injury.
Jared DeVries missed the afternoon session on Wednesday as well, though he was out because of personal reasons.
After struggling in the 7-on-7 drill yesterday, the Lions' quarterbacks performed better today.
Drew Stanton's unit was the only one to score in Wednesday's two-minute drill.
Matthew Stafford threw a no-look pass to Calvin Johnson on Tuesday.
The battle for the third running back spot on the roster will likely be between Aveion Cason and Aaron Brown. Both are also returners and are very similar players in general. Brown has age working for him, as he is younger and hasn't had a chance to prove himself. Cason, on the other hand, has the obvious edge in experience. One area where Brown clearly has Cason beat is speed, so we will have to see how big of a factor that plays when the final round of roster cuts arrives.

(More after the jump)

Philip Zaroo of the Highlight Reel has a recap of how the offense and defense performed during practice yesterday. Also in the defense post is a funny moment with offensive tackle Ephraim Salaam.
Jerome Felton has been getting some carries out of a 2-fullback set that features him and Terrelle Smith.
Gunther Cunningham really likes the Detroit area and its people.
Rich Gannon thinks Matthew Stafford will be the Lions' starter when the season opens.
Ernie Accorsi was invited to practice by Jim Schwartz.
With this whole Twitter-fad going on right now, some teams, including the Lions, have prohibited the media from Tweeting while watching practice. What's funny is that any fan with a cell phone can do just that, yet the media aren't allowed to. Something just doesn't make sense about that policy.
Michael Crabtree is threatening to sit out the 2009 season and re-enter the draft in 2010.

Monday Notes: Brandon Pettigrew Injures Quadriceps

Sean Yuille — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 18:12:16 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

4 months ago: Detroit Lions tight end Brandon Pettigrew, right, hauls in a pass in front of cornerback Phillip Buchanon during NFL football training camp Sunday, Aug. 2, 2009, in Allen Park, Mich. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

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Brandon Pettigrew suffered a quadriceps injury and left the afternoon session of practice yesterday. The injury doesn't sound too serious, though, so hopefully he will be back soon.
Casey FitzSimmons also suffered an injury, one that appeared to be bad at the time. He apparently was on the ground grabbing his knee, but he returned to practice and later said, "Just one of those bumps and bruises you get in training camp."
Ephraim Salaam didn't practice in the afternoon. He was given the session off, though, which is likely because he isn't one of the younger guys out there. Adam Jennings missed the morning session (he was excused) but returned in the afternoon.
None of the Lions' three quarterbacks were able to lead the offense to a touchdown in the two-minute drill. If Keary Colbert wouldn't have dropped a pass, Stafford's unit would have scored, so it wasn't completely bad. (Colbert did push-ups as a punishment for dropping the pass.)
According to Tom Kowalski, a couple "minor skirmishes" happened on Sunday. One was between John Standeford and Eric King and the other involved Damion Cook and Landon Cohen.
Aaron Brown, Aveion Cason, and Derrick Williams are currently the Lions' kick returners.
The defensive line seems to be having its way with the offensive line. Look at that however you want, but either the D-line has suddenly gotten a lot better or the O-line is really struggling.
Calvin Johnson likes what he sees in Matthew Stafford. I'm sure Stafford feels the same way about Calvin.
The team's first day of practice in full pads is tomorrow.

(More after the jump)

Martin Mayhew is a huge fan of Kevin Smith.
Tom Kowalski relayed a funny encounter Louis Delmas had with a Central Michigan fan after practice. As usual, players went over to the crowd to sign autographs, and one person presented a CMU hat for Delmas to sign. Delmas, as you probably know, is from Western Michigan, and this was his reaction to seeing the hat:

"Oh, hell no,'' Delmas said of signing the hat. "The guy was actually laughing about it. I think he was testing me.''
Delmas signed something else the guy had, so it seems like it was a joke. I'm sure if gave Drew Stanton a Michigan hat to sign, his reaction would be similar or even worse.
Pistons guard Rodney Stuckey attended practice on Sunday.
Referees Ron Winter, Mike Spanier, and Scott Helverson are going to be at practice from August 6-8 to get themselves ready for the preseason as well as help the Lions see any penalties they may be committing.
The FanHouse has video of Matthew Stafford answering questions at the ESPYs.
Travis Fisher has signed with the Seahawks.

Sunday Notes: One Day of Practice in the Books

Sean Yuille — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 08:28:40 -0000

More photos » by Duane Burleson - AP

4 months ago: Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Scott Linehan, second from left, talks with quarterbacks Drew Stanton (5), Matthew Stafford (9) and Daunte Culpepper (11) during the Lions NFL football training camp, Saturday, Aug. 1, 2009, in Allen Park, Mich. (AP Photo/Duane Burleson)

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The Lions completed their first day of training camp yesterday, kicking off the start of football once again. Although the regular season is still over a month away, once training camp arrives, football is officially back. Sure, the next month will only be practice and preseason games, but it is simply an appetizer to the main course: the regular season. Besides, with fantasy football drafts and the release of Madden 10 taking place in the next few weeks, September will be here in no time.
Jim Schwartz changed things up a bit by not having the first practice until the afternoon. In the morning, the team held a meeting and then went through a series of strength and conditioning drills. The meeting seemed to be pretty typical until the very end, which is when Schwartz lightened the mood by having some fun at Matthew Stafford's expense. Schwartz reportedly went through a PowerPoint presentation of what he did during the summer and capped it off by delivering the following line as relayed by Tom Kowalski: "I thought I had a fun vacation until I saw this." Schwartz then showed the team Stafford's now famous pictures from what appeared to be a very joyful Independence Day celebration with quite a few girls in bikinis. As you can imagine, the team got a kick out of the pictures, and Stafford found it funny as well. If I were him, I would have simply shouted "Jealous?" to my teammates.
With the meeting out of the way, the team went through an NFL Combine-like workout. The players had to go through a series of drills that tested their strength and conditioning. Defensive tackle Sammie Hill, offensive tackle Ephraim Salaam, and wide receiver Demir Boldin failed the conditioning part of the workout, which was a 300-yard shuttle run (12 runs of 25 yards) that had to be completed in 65 seconds. Because of that, they had to sit out the afternoon practice. Thankfully, all three did the test again in the afternoon and passed it, meaning they should be on the field for some football today.
The other two parts of this test were vertical jump and bench press. The latter saw defensive tackle Landon Cohen show off how strong he is by doing 50 reps. Jim Schwartz called the effort "superhuman," and really it is an example of how this team has gotten much stronger during the offseason. That is one of the goals Schwartz had when he was first hired, and he definitely has to like the results the team has produced so far.
The three players that initially failed the conditioning test weren't the only ones that didn't practice on Saturday. Defensive tackle Grady Jackson and wide receiver Bryant Johnson both missed practice, and I don't believe it is known when they will be able to get on the field. Jackson has an illness that apparently isn't related to his knee, which kept him out of all the Lions' minicamps this offseason. Johnson, on the other hand, was placed on the Non-Football Injury list, as he is still suffering from the effects of a golf cart crash. You read that correctly, a golf cart crash.

Johnson was driving around in a golf cart in his community and somehow lost control of it, leading to an accident that included the cart falling over on the driver's side and sliding for 10 yards. Johnson also mentioned that there was a hill involved, though "it wasn't a steep hill." His injuries don't sound like they are anything more than wounds, but those wounds may keep him off the field for a couple weeks, according to Tom Kowalski. If you're having trouble imagining what these wounds are like, think back to your childhood and try to remember if you ever crashed your bike. The cuts and scrapes you got from sliding on the cement are probably similar to what Johnson got from the accident. Those types of wounds are sensitive to simply touch, so until they really heal, it would be tough to play football.

(More after the jump)

If any of you truly believe that Drew Stanton has a shot at starting, you may want to reconsider that opinion. The fact of the matter is that Stanton merely has a shot at making the team, as evidenced by this quote from Martin Mayhew:

"I like our two quarterbacks," Mayhew said. "I think we have probably the two most talented – physically talented – quarterbacks we’ve had since we’ve been here, and I feel good about those guys."
Mayhew is referring to Matthew Stafford and Daunte Culpepper, which shows that Stanton is on the outside looking in when it comes to the battle for starting QB. You would expect Mayhew to keep his statement completely politically correct by praising every QB on the roster, but he only singled out two of them. What's more, when asked about adding another quarterback to the roster (perhaps one of the three that worked out earlier this week), Mayhew said it's "possible" and declined to elaborate on whether or not it had to do with how Stanton looks.
Mayhew confirmed that running back Antone Smith was released, a move that actually excited him in the sense that they had to get rid of such a good player. The release was strictly due to numbers it appears, and the fact that their worst running back was still pretty good has Mayhew excited about the Lions' depth at that position.
While he is happy with the backfield and the linebackers, Mayhew did say there are "areas of concern" and made a point that making the roster better is an ongoing process.
Only media, season-ticket holders, and other guests got a chance to watch practice yesterday, but from the sounds of it, Matthew Stafford did quite well. Based on the following quote from former Division II center Jeff Chaney, the offensive line didn't do too hot.
"If first impressions mean anything, Stafford's going to be throwing from his back a lot this year," Chaney said.
That's never good to hear, especially with a rookie quarterback on the team. I'll give the O-line the benefit of the doubt for now, though, as it was the first day of practice. Plus, I'd like to get a live look at the team before I make any rash judgments. I will make an exception, however, for Calvin Johnson, as Megatron was Megatron yesterday.
Charlie Sanders thinks highly of Brandon Pettigrew.
During his press conference on Friday, Jim Schwartz made a joke about his visit with Jim Leyland, saying he could get in on the class-action lawsuits against tobacco companies after spending some time with the Tigers manager.
The Detroit News' Tim Twentyman provided a look at the behind-the-scenes people that make training camp run smoothly.
In a release on their official site, the Buccaneers mistakenly said they went 0-16 in 1976. The Lions just can't get any credit, even for failing.

Know Thy Enemy 2009: Houston Texans - Sunday October 25

Fooch — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:00:24 -0000

So much for posting these every Wednesday. Well, I think you guys will survive with getting it a day late. This week we look at an intriguing opponent, at an intriguing time of the season for the 49ers - @ Houston, coming off the bye week. More importantly, it's the start of a 3-game jaunt versus the AFC South: @ Houston, @ Indianapolis, vs. Tennessee. Arguably the toughest 3-game stretch all season.

The Houston Texans are represented at SB Nation by Tim over at Battle Red Blog. Head on over and enjoy the constant stream of Dunta Robinson contract updates.

Overview
I have to admit, Matt Schaub is one of my favorite non-49ers in the league. A college buddy of mine was a huge Virginia fan and he turned me on to Schaub back in his Wahoo days. Schaub took a very solid step forward last season, but early season struggles for the team, yet again, sumbarined any playoff chances. They finished 8-8 for the second straight year, but once again they fell short of the playoffs in the always tough AFC South.

The Texans were in excellent shape on offense. Their offense finished the season ~~11th~~ 14th in the league thanks to a career year from Andre Johnson and a huge rookie season for 3rd round pick Steve Slaton. That seems like a recipe for success. Unfortunately, their defense finished a robust 29th in the league overall, equally abysmal against the run and the pass.

Additions
In the draft, the Texans added some defensive talent early on in OLB Brian Cushing and DE Connor Barwin. To say Battle Red Blog was not pleased with the Cushing pick is putting it mildly. On the other hand, they seem to be excited about Connor Barwin bringing a pass rushing presence to join the formerly panned Mario Williams. On offense, the team drafted Antoine Caldwell in the hopes that he'll unseat Chris Myers at center.

Elsewhere, the biggest offseason addition has to be the duo of Dan Orlovsky and Rex Grossman........ok, maybe not. The Texans were fairly active in free agency, adding a lot of depth guys like Cato June and hoping to find some defensive line answers in Shaun Cody and Antonio Smith. Cody has yet to reach his potential, so we'll see if he's able to provide some answers in Houston. We'll see if Smith can build off his solid playoff performance for the Cardinals.

Subtractions
The Texans didn't do too bad in the minus department. Most of their losses came from releases that were just as much to do with ineffective performance as anything else. The notables include Ahman Green, Will Demps, Ephraim Salaam and Anthony Weaver among many others. As you'll see in the Q&A below, the question becomes who will be a sufficient backup to Steve Slaton now?

2009 Questions & Answers
Personally, I'm most curious to see how the running back unit plays out for the Texans. Steve Slaton blew up in his rookie season without much of anything in the way of help (294 yards from Ahman Green). There is of course the worry of a sophomore slump. However, beyond that is who will help out in the backfield? Ryan Moats? The team did not add any running backs of significance so at this point Slaton will have to carry the load.

The offense seems well put together otherwise. The question then becomes whether the defense will show some improvement. They've added some talented football players, but it's tough to tell if they've really sufficiently solved the problems they had last year. As great as that offense can look, it won't matter much if they can't stop the other team.

vs. San Francisco
In our schedule discussion, ProfessorBigelow and I both predicted a 49ers win. As I said in the discussion, if the 49ers are going to take that proverbial step forward as a team, this is a must-win game for them. At the same time, I think this ends up a battle down to the wire. While the teams are built in very different ways, I think they're similar in the sense that they're both on the verge of taking that step into the playoff promise land. A loss here could send the Texans to yet another .500 season and home for the playoffs. Either way, I think this has the potential to be the most entertaining game of the season for 49ers fans.

Wednesday Notes: Lions' Final Minicamp Is Underway

Sean Yuille — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 17:43:40 -0000

More photos » by Paul Sancya - AP

5 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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First and foremost, my condolences go out to Jared DeVries, as his high school coach, Ed Thomas, was killed in a shooting this morning. Thomas was not only a great coach, but he also was a great person and friend to his players. After tornadoes tore through Iowa last year, he helped lead the effort to rebuild his city. DeVries went back home to help rebuild as well. He was pulled from practice this morning to be informed of the tragic news.
Daunte Culpepper broke his silence on the battle that is shaping up between him and Matthew Stafford for the starting QB job, but nothing he said was really all that groundbreaking. The only really notable comment Culpepper made was when he talked up Stafford.

"(Stafford's) played a lot of football and he's a hard worker,'' Culpepper said. "He's going to be a great player in this league and I wish him the best in everything he does in his career.''
Aside from that, the other thing worth noting is that Culpepper's goal for this coming season is to win the NFC North. I like that his top goal is team-oriented. Many players would probably be more concerned with playing than anything else, so it's good to see Culpepper's got the right attitude.
Due to a combination of warm temperatures and a couple weeks off, practice got off to a rough start yesterday. Once some of the rust wore off, things got back to normal.
Jon Jansen and Ephraim Salaam are currently practicing as backups to the right and left tackle positions, respectively. Jansen is probably going to practice at guard during training camp, and it is expected that Salaam will move around to right tackle at some point as well. It is important for these types of players to be versatile, so this isn't too surprising.
The Lions could really use Kevin Carter, as Eric Hicks, Jared DeVries, and rookie Ryan Kees are currently the team's only left defensive ends.
Grady Jackson and Derrick Williams didn't participate in practice yesterday. Jackson still is recovering from knee surgery and Williams had a tight hamstring.
Don't expect Jim Schwartz to release a depth chart until the first exhibition game of the preseason.
The main motivation behind the Lions someday moving training camp appears to be to make the players uncomfortable. Another reason is to give more fans a chance to attend practices, but Schwartz seems set on throwing a curveball at his team next summer, and moving the players out of their practice facility is a good way to do just that.
~~Schwartz supposedly now has his own Twitter page~~, as do the Lions.

UPDATE: The Lions confirmed that that isn't Schwartz's Twitter page.
Larry Foote's return to Detroit comes with the goals of making the Lions better and making his hometown better as well.
Don't expect many NFL teams to have any interest in Charles Rogers.
Tom Kowalski seems to think the story about Roy Williams not participating in a lifting program while he was with the Lions is a bit overblown.
Former Lion Fernando Bryant has retired.
Another report is stating that Brett Favre already has an agreement to play for the Vikings and that he will be in Minnesota when training camp begins.
SB Nation recently added its 200th blog.

Wednesday Notes: Lions Sign Marquand Manuel

Sean Yuille — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:57:27 -0000

The Lions signed safety Marquand Manuel on Tuesday. Manuel most recently played for the Broncos. Overall, the Lions are Manuel's sixth different team in eight seasons.
The Lions hired Miller McCalmon and Cary Conklin earlier this week. McCalmon, who worked with Martin Mayhew in 1999 in Washington, will serve as the Lions' Assistant Director of Pro Personnel. Conklin, who played with Mayhew on the Redskins, will be a Regional Scout for the West Coast.
Jon Jansen passed his physical and is officially a member of the team. The Lions will start him out at right tackle, but Jansen feels he can play any position on the O-line.
The million dollar question -- or in this case, the $72 million question -- is about when Matthew Stafford will see the field for the first time in his NFL career. Jim Schwartz answered that question for Peter King, being very clear about when Stafford will play.

"We've got two criteria for when Matthew will play,'' said Schwartz. "One is he'll play when he's ready. The second is when he's the best quarterback for us. But so far, whatever the opposite of buyers' remorse is, that's what we have. We knew he had the terrific NFL arm. But we've found out his release is just textbook classic.''
King speculates that Culpepper will have to play exceptionally well to hold off Stafford based on his conversation with Schwartz, so perhaps this "arms race," as Schwartz called it, will be closer than originally expected.
Drew Stanton put up a new entry on his blog recently, and he talked about his experiences with the team since the new coaching staff took over. Everything he had to say about his new coaches was positive, and the quote below pretty much sums up how he felt about the old coaching staff.

Football has been as good as I could have hoped considering the situation I find myself in. I think it has to do with the fact that I enjoy just going to work now on a daily basis. My first two years I could not have said that and meant it, but now I really do. The offense is great, my coaches actually coach and teach, and I feel as if I am constantly learning.
Stanton went on to say that the coaches haven't treated him any differently since the arrival of Matthew Stafford, which is good to hear considering how easy it would be for them to simply put him on the back burner with a No. 1 overall pick coming in.
Kevin Smith also put up a new post recently and talked about how surprisingly well Stafford has played so far in OTAs.
Linebacker DeAndre Levy and center Dan Gerberry (rookie from Ball State) got into a "skirmish" at a recent OTA. It was broken up quickly, though.
The Lions' final OTA is tomorrow. The team will then train for two weeks before having a mandatory minicamp from June 22-24. I believe the schedule after that is four more weeks of conditioning before training camp begins at the very end of July.
Sean Conover has changed positions from tight end to defensive end.
Dave Birkett is officially done covering the Lions, as he is off to AnnArbor.com to cover Michigan football. I want to wish Dave good luck with his new job and thank him on behalf of all Lions fans for the great job he did covering the Lions.
I think it's safe to say that offensive lineman Ephraim Salaam is the best TV personality on the team. He recently went on Ellen to show off his run through the obstacle course on the show Wipeout. Hilarity ensues.
Jim Schwartz is a pretty decent golfer for someone who can only get on the course for a few months each year.
Lions director of security Ricky Sandoval, who is battling pancreatic cancer, has a blog to keep everyone updated on his treatments. (HT: John Niyo)
FOXSports.com's Alex Marvez thinks the Lions had the best draft this year.
Madden NFL 10 is going to have authentic kicking styles, and IGN has a screenshot of Jason Hanson getting ready to make a kick.
Peter King thinks that Matt Millen is the leader in the clubhouse to land the job of NFL Network color commentator.

Friday Notes: Recapping Thursday's OTA

Sean Yuille — Fri, 22 May 2009 15:48:24 -0000

More photos » by Carlos Osorio - AP

7 months ago: Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, talks with offensive coordinator Scott Linehan during drills at the team's football practice facility in Allen Park, Mich., Friday, May 1, 2009. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

Browse more photos »

NFL.com has a minute-long video showing some highlights of Matthew Stafford from yesterday's OTA.
Stafford's performance yesterday was nothing surprising. He made some bad throws but threw the ball like a No. 1 pick at times as well. He took reps with the No. 2 group, so he didn't get to throw the ball to Calvin Johnson. Daunte Culpepper, who was "the sharpest," according to Dave Birkett, had that luxury. Drew Stanton was the QB splitting reps with Stafford in the No. 2 group, and he "had a pretty good day throwing the ball." In the end, though, Birkett came to this conclusion:

But Stafford remains the most talented. Even with the veterans, his passes seem to get on the receiver as soon as they turn around.
My guess is that once Stafford learns the ins and outs of the offense, he will get more and more of the No. 2 reps. Obviously the Lions don't want to just forget about Stanton, but I imagine by training camp Stafford will start to pick up more reps, hopefully to the point where he gets to work out with the No. 1 team every once in a while.
Rookies should expect to hear it from veterans for being a rookie; that's just part of getting acclimated to the NFL. If the rookie is the top overall pick of the draft, though, he should expect to hear about how much money he has, as was the case with Stafford on Thursday.

"A guy couldn't catch me coming out of a bootleg, and he said, 'Sorry, I was just picking up all the money falling out of your pockets,'" Stafford said, laughing. "Just funny stuff like that. But they've all been great, welcoming me."
Eric Hicks later admitted he made the comment after Jared DeVries ratted him out.
Don't expect to find Stafford in any GQ photo shoots like the one Mark Sanchez did.

"No, I haven't had any offers, but my abs aren't as cut as those of Mark Sanchez," Stafford joked after Thursday's OTA workout. "But, yeah, I saw that. I'm gonna have to give him a call about that."

Asked if he thought Sanchez's photos were airbrushed, Stafford laughed and shook his head, "I don't know. We're not THAT good of friends."
That would have been the quote of the day if Hicks hadn't used the "money falling out of your pockets" line during practice.
Newly signed offensive tackle Ephraim Salaam only participated in individual drills during the OTA on Thursday.
Jim Schwartz thinks free agent Roderick Hood "was still in the exploratory range" when he visited the Lions, so don't get your hopes up that he will end up in Detroit.
Defensive end Dewayne White missed Thursday's OTA, which was voluntary, for personal reasons. Fellow defensive lineman Grady Jackson hasn't practiced yet this offseason due to the problems with his brother, but he is now back with the team.
Safeties Stuart Schweigert and Daniel Bullocks and defensive end Jason Hunter also sat out practice on Thursday.
Louis Delmas is serving as the punt team's personal protector, which lines up basically as a fullback and barks out different things relating to blocking and blitzing.
I was pleasantly surprised to find no new FanPosts about Michael Vick considering he was released from prison earlier this week. I've reiterated before that the Lions have no interest in him, but hopefully by letting Jim Schwartz do basically the same thing, there will be little to no mention of Vick on this site in the future.
The Free Press and MLive have photo galleries from Thursday.
The 49ers signed Dre' Bly to a one-year deal, and another former Lions cornerback, Brian Kelly, was brought in for a physical.

Thursday Notes: Lions Sign Ephraim Salaam

Sean Yuille — Thu, 21 May 2009 16:31:07 -0000

The Lions signed veteran offensive tackle Ephraim Salaam today. Salaam has been in the league for 11 seasons already and has played for 4 teams prior to signing with the Lions. He visited the Lions back in early April and left without a deal. He wanted to wait until after the draft to make sure someone like Jason Smith or another highly rated tackle wasn't drafted. It's not that he is afraid of competition, but Salaam wants to make sure he doesn't voluntarily put himself in a situation like last season, where rookie Duane Brown beat him out for the starting job at left tackle. In 2006 and 2007, Salaam started 30 out of 32 games for the Texans. I don't know if he will be able to beat out Jeff Backus for the starting job at left tackle, but at the very least he will bring some competition to the position.
Roderick Hood has received a contract offer from the Rams and is going to visit the Bears next. He has also visited the Lions, Browns, and Bengals, though Cincinnati is "out of the picture," according to PFT.
Zack Follett was surprised at how tough it is to learn an NFL defense.
With cornerback Walt Harris likely out for the season, the 49ers are already looking for his replacement, as they are going to meet with Dre' Bly today.

Tuesday Notes: Lions Could Legally Delay Top Pick to Move Down Draft Order

Sean Yuille — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 13:00:15 -0000

If the Lions wanted to, they could purposely not turn in a pick on time to move down in the draft order. There was a column written by SI's Ross Tucker back on April Fool's Day suggesting this exact strategy with the No. 1 pick, but many wondered if the Lions could get away with it. As it turns out, they could legally delay their pick and wouldn't have to pay No. 1 money. That means that if they wanted to draft Matthew Stafford, theoretically they could wait to turn in the pick until after the Chiefs made their selection. Stafford won't be selected by the Rams of Chiefs, so the Lions could wait a couple picks to save some money.

While this strategy certainly would be interesting and smart for saving money, it is highly doubtful that the Lions would employ it on draft day. Aside from the perception that the Lions couldn't even turn in the top pick on time (I doubt most would realize what they Lions were doing), there's the risk of passing up one of the players selected during your delay and having him turn out to be a Pro Bowler or a great player. While picking one player over another and in hindsight wishing you could go back and do a certain draft all over again is a common occurrence, it would be worse to look back and know that you let another team swoop in and pick a Pro Bowler while you were trying to save some money.
Offensive tackle Ephraim Salaam left Detroit without signing a contract. He is thinking over his options and may wait to make a decision until after the draft. That way he can see exactly what each team's situation is, allowing him to pick a team where the chance for playing time exists.
Shortly after Salaam left the Lions, the team re-signed offensive tackle George Foster to a one-year deal. The team also signed center Dylan Gandy to a one-year deal, adding depth to the offensive line at multiple positions. Neither of these two players are starting material, but both provide needed depth. As some of you pointed out, they are more than likely "training camp bodies." They will be around during training camp for depth and practice reasons but probably won't make the team. That is the most likely scenario, so these signings don't seem like a very big deal to me, not that they should.
B.J. Raji's agents released a statement refuting multiple reports that their client tested positive for a drug (reported to be marijuana) at the combine. SI.com and NFL Draft Bible reported that Raji tested positive for a drug, and the latter of the two specified that it was marijuana. NFL Draft Bible is standing by all of its recent stories about players testing positive for marijuana and steroids, so it will definitely be interesting to see who turns out to be telling the truth in this whole situation.
Mocking the Draft has the Lions selecting Jason Smith and Peria Jerry in the first-round of its most recent mock draft.
Jeff Garcia signed with the Raiders to be JaMarcus Russell's backup.
Despite being released by the Ravens on March 18, the team re-signed cornerback Samari Rolle to a four-year deal on Monday.
I want to give myself a pat on the back for winning the Pride of Detroit tournament pool. I tied for first-place with Swish, who had 138 points just like me. I won the tiebreaker, though, as my prediction for the total amount of points scored was only a single point off the actual total.