Wednesday Notes: Lions Release LaMarcus Hicks

by Sean Yuille on Nov 5, 2008 12:42 AM EST in Notes Comment 3 comments

To make room on the roster for Daunte Culpepper, the Lions released safety LaMarcus Hicks. This tells me that Dwight Smith is healthy again, as the Lions obviously feel the added depth at safety is no longer necessary. Most figured Drew Henson would get released when Culpepper signed, but as of right now he is still on the roster, meaning the Lions currently have four QBs.
Although Rod Marinelli is attempting to keep the Jaguars unaware of who will start for the Lions on Sunday, it certainly seems like Culpepper will get the nod over Dan Orlovsky.
Best news I've heard all season: Jason Hanson wants to come back for another season with the Lions. His contract is set to expire at the end of this season, but all signs point to him coming back for his 18th season in the NFL.
Lions punter Nick Harris could have played defense in college but chose punting instead.
Dan Orlovsky actually had to call his own plays on a drive against the Bears due to a communications issue with the Lions' headsets. Orlovsky is the one that called the Calvin Johnson end-around that went for a loss of 6 yards, and the Lions ultimately went three and out on the drive. The Lions apparently had similar problems against the Texans a few weeks back.
Nicholas Cotsonika thinks the Lions should consider hiring fired Rams coach Scott Linehan to be their offensive coordinator. The main reason for bringing up the idea is that Linehan was Daunte Culpepper's offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach in Minnesota. Anyone is better than Jim Colletto, that's for sure.
Speaking of Colletto, remember his comments from last week about how Drew Stanton would be embarrass himself if he started? Well, Rod Marinelli called the comments a "poor choice of words." Marinelli also said this about Colletto's comments:

“What he’s saying is, we want to make sure he’s got enough tools to go into a game with,” Marinelli said today.
I do think that is what Colletto really meant; he just said it in a very direct way. It's not like he wasn't telling the truth or anything like that, but Colletto probably shouldn't have been so upfront about Stanton.
Drew Stanton also spoke about the comments, and as you can imagine, he didn't exactly sound thrilled with Colletto's harsh assessment, especially since it was told to the media.

"That's fine -- he's entitled to his opinion," Stanton said Friday when asked for his reaction. "If he thinks that I (would) embarrass myself when I go out there, then that's what he believes and ultimately he's the offensive coordinator right now."

Added Stanton: "Anytime that you play for somebody that says they don't want you to go out there and embarrass yourself, obviously, that's not going to make you feel good. At the same time, that's his evaluation of me. Maybe I need to change his mind or whatever. Maybe I won't get the opportunity to. I can't worry about the words or the exact definition of what he's trying to say."
I feel sorry for Stanton simply because no player should have to be put in a position like that. Coaches need to be careful about what they say anywhere. But when they're talking to the media, they better watch every word that comes out of their mouth.
SI's Peter King thinks NFL teams should take a look at Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach.

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hats off the Jason

the guy is really all class. you know he could get a job elsewhere and maybe see the playoffs again, but he wants to stay with the Lions. good guy.

by nuftjedi on Nov 5, 2008 10:42 AM EST reply actions 0 recs

Did anyone see the CNN.SI article on Peter King’s MMQB Tuesday edition?? Someone wrote in about the Lions having AMAZING luck in selecting KICKERS!! It’s true, in the past 27 years we have had 2 kickers – Murray and Hanson. But, like P King said, its sad for us Lions fans when THAT is what we have to hang our collective hats on.

by NYCLionsfan on Nov 5, 2008 3:23 PM EST reply actions 0 recs

deAngelo Hall

I saw that the Raiders released him today. Is there any chance we could try to pick him up? He would be a huge upgrade and allow us more options in the draft.

by MatthewDC on Nov 5, 2008 7:42 PM EST reply actions 0 recs