Tuesday Notes: Grady Jackson Case "Still Under Review"

• Tom Kowalski is reporting that Grady Jackson has not been suspended yet.  I stress the last word of that sentence, because the case is apparently still under review.
• Here's a great stat from Nicholas Cotsonika: 31 players on the 53-man roster weren't part of last year's 0-16 season.
• Jason Hanson is almost fully recovered and is going to spend this week shaking off the rust.
• Jim Schwartz commented on why Shaun Smith was released and said that he "was a good citizen" while playing for the Lions.  It sounds like he was cut simply because the coaches opted to go with younger players like Sammie Hill and Landon Cohen.
• While Schwartz made sure to say that the Lions are fully behind Matthew Stafford starting, he also praised Daunte Culpepper for what he did to make this such a tight competition.
  

  "I want to say this: Daunte Culpepper is back," Schwartz said. "There's no doubt in my mind -- I don't think there's any doubt around the league. The commitment that he made over the last six months to get back to being a starting NFL quarterback, I mean, that's obvious, that's apparent. He's gonna be back as a starting quarterback at some time in this league."
  
  Asked if the Lions would consider trading Culpepper, who is scheduled to make more than $4 million in salary and bonus money this season, Schwartz said, "We're very happy with where we are quarterback-wise. ... I think (quarterback is going to be a strength on our team, and I don't think we're in a position of getting rid of good players."

  I still don't understand why people think Culpepper will be traded.  Yes, it would be nice to cut the salary loose, but the Lions need a solid backup in case Stafford gets hurt.  While Drew Stanton has played well in the preseason, there's probably a reason he is third-string, and he's not even healthy right now.  Simply put, as Schwartz said, the Lions aren't in a position to trade someone like Culpepper.

(More after the jump)

• As mentioned in a FanShot yesterday, quarterback Brock Berlin has been signed to the practice squad.  He was brought in because he is familiar with Scott Linehan and Jeff Horton, who both coached him in St. Louis.
• Bill Ford Jr. promised that there will be some sellouts this season for Lions home games.  I think it's safe to say that if the home opener isn't already sold out, it is close enough for a company to come in and buy the rest of the tickets.  That's what the Lions did in the past, but then again, if the home opener isn't already sold out, what does that say about the ticket sales for the rest of the home games?
• Aaron Brown shared an interesting story about his first encounter with Matthew Stafford.
  

  "The first time I met him, he stuck his leg out and tripped me," the running back recalled. "It caught me off-guard because I didn’t know him at all. Then I walked away and said to myself, ‘Man, he is cool, crazy and just like everybody else.’ He’s not stuck up. He’s just a good dude."

  Stafford definitely seems more like your usual player than somebody who is a No. 1 overall pick.
  
• ESPN.com's Jeffri Chadiha wrote a nice piece on Ernie Sims.
• The Lions are Norman Chad's "Team of Destiny" this season.
• Ralph Wilson Jr., the owner of the Bills, still lives in Detroit.
• There was some speculation that the Jets traded for Kevin O'Connell to get trade talks with the Broncos started up again.  That makes the most sense out of why the Jets traded for him, though the Broncos still claim they aren't going to trade Brandon Marshall.