Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had to say after Tuesday's training camp practice. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)
On if there's a performance difference due to playing a team in both the preseason and regular season: "That thought does come up. There are things that you sort of feel like you like against a defensive scheme or an offensive scheme that you don't want to show. Over the course of the season you're going to show all those things anyway. The main thing is execution. You want guys communicating and executing well. You want to see, I said this a bunch of times in preseason games, you want to see players win, not schemes win. You want to see a player win a one-on-one pass rush. You want to see a running back break a tackle. You want to see a wide receiver get open against man or a corner cover man. I think that's probably the biggest thing with preseason. The fact that we'll be playing them in regular season doesn't really change that philosophy."
On what he saw in DE Ronnell Lewis last year: "It was really a lot more availability last year. That's set him back so much with the practice time and even game time that he would miss. Ronnell was a very good special teams player. He still can contribute in that role. Fit defensively also. He's out here working hard. Since he's been off the PUP, he has had a very good camp. He's been trying to carve out a niche, carve out a role. He's made some plays in the preseason games. He has made up for some lost time. He still has a long way to go, but he has made up some lost time."
On the security QB Shaun Hill brings to the offense: "He fits that job description to a tee. He's an experienced player. If he goes into the game, there's nobody that's going to panic. Offense, defense, coaching, him. He just has that quiet confidence that you know he can go and get the job done. I think I said this before, he also supports (Matthew) Stafford and they have a great relationship. He's always talking to Matt. He does a great job sort of seeing different things and communicating those during practices and games. He also helps our defense. He attacks our defense in practice. There's never an easy day when you're going against him. We're very lucky to have Shaun."
On sealing up the open right guard position: "I think we get a lot of continuity on the practice field. We work a lot of different groups. Those guys are used to playing with each other - even the rookies. Larry (Warford) got an awful lot of reps in the last game. It's not a like player hasn't been here or something like that. The most important thing is making a good evaluation and seeing a lot of different environments and make the best decision of who can be a consistent player over the long term."
On if quality from one position will transfer to another position on the roster: "I think we're always flexible with the roster when it comes to that. Honestly, we're still pretty far from the 53 man roster considerations. We're getting ready for our second preseason game. Today was a little bit lighter day from a training camp standpoint. They had two really good practices, physical coming into this. Today was more of a preparation day for Cleveland. We will walk through tomorrow and then have that game. Those are things that are on our minds and the players' minds right now instead of worrying about what the roster is going to look like and things like that. I think that if they go play well, then it makes it a lot easier to make some of those hard decisions."
On the importance of finding secondary receivers who can catch the ball consistently: "A couple years ago we used that to answer questions, ‘How come Matt doesn't have a good rapport with Calvin (Johnson).' Unless we complete every one to I guess a different player then we're always going to have questions like that. There is something to getting everybody involved on offense, but there were opportunities there. The way they played us, that's where his reads told him to go. I think it was a really good example with the one he completed to Calvin, Reggie Bush was in the flat and Matt did a good job looking off. The defensive backs stayed up, Matt was able to get it over the top. It wasn't even as if he was looking for Calvin. He was reading his progression and as long as he's doing those kind of things, then we're making good choices and we're getting something out of those opportunities."
On how beneficial is it to have many guys getting first team reps during training camp: "I definitely think there's a benefit to that. In training camp you get a lot of different guys working in a lot of different groups anyway. Over the course of the season you're going to have guys go in there. It's been well documented the issues we have had in the secondary with injuries. On the offensive line we have been a little bit, the last couple of years, fortunate to stay away from injuries. It does help you in those situations because you do have guys that have gotten quality reps that the team has confidence in. I wouldn't underestimate that part of it either. When a player goes and he's able to perform well in a preseason game or in a tough practice, coaches have confidence in him. The front office has confidence in him. Just as much as that, the players have confidence and they know that he can get the job done if he has to go in."