Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell had to say on Wednesday. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)
On if he believes QB Jay Cutler is an elite quarterback: "I'm not one to put tags on anybody. Do I think he's very good at what he does, absolutely. Great arm, great talent, great mind. He's a quality individual."
On the issues the Bears are dealing with: "We have our own problems. We don't worry about anybody else and their issues, we have our own to worry about."
On if they've made a decision on T LaAdrian Waddle: "I don't anticipate him being able to play this week. We'll announce as time goes on, the rest of it."
On if T Michael Williams has progressed to the point where he can fill in for Waddle: "That's always a possibility. We have a number of guys in that position."
On if he believes Chicago will change what they do on defense after their first matchup: "I think it's always a little bit of both. You're not going to change a drastic amount because you have a chance to, whatever you do, you do it better the more opportunities you get. But then also, we all look at one another a little differently from time to time and determine that maybe this will work a little bit better or that will work better. I'm sure there will be some kind of adjustment."
On if there's any value to playing the Bears recently: "Because they come in such close proximity, you don't have as many huge changes from a personnel standpoint as you would, maybe, as if it was eight weeks ago."
On what having an ‘outdoor mentality' means: "That we play well regardless of where we're located, whether we're indoors or we're outdoors, rain, sleet or snow no matter where we're located. Here, our house, your house, parking lot, doesn't matter."
On the team struggling to play well in cold weather in past years: "I wasn't here, so I don't look at the past and make a determination on what's going to happen in the future. I believe in the guys that we have and we know it's going to be tough, but I think it's our job to find a way."
On why they're practicing outside today: "Because we play outside."
On how much it helps to prepare for the elements such as wind and rain: "Well, all of those things. Number one, the temperature is going to be about what it is, similar to what we're going to face today. But you always have to deal with wind conditions. Inside, indoors we don't have the wind. You see from previously, when we've had to play in a cold weather, we usually open the doors and try to get the temperature the same. But, obviously in this particular case, we're going to go outside. The ground is not frozen or anything of that nature where we have to worry about the guys having issues with footing and things. It's good for us to get out there."
On if he plans on having outdoor practices all week: "We'll see. Today we will."
On some of the things that S Glover Quin does that puts him in the conversation of top safety in the league: "He plays consistently well, he's a sure tackler, he's opportunistic and he does a great job of tracking the ball. As you can see he's made a couple of tremendous interceptions off of tips that were quite a ways away from his area of responsibility. He's a great communicator and does a great job in terms of leadership, so he does everything well."
On where the ‘playing smart' angle presents itself on defense: "All across the board, from our defensive linemen to our linebackers to our safeties. Often times we say, ‘Play smart, not scared.' Sometimes guys play a little apprehensive when you talk about strictly playing smart, they're cautious and that kind of thing. We don't want to be that type of team, we still want to be able to turn it loose, and this game is not played on its heels. You got to let it go. There has to be times when you can't be afraid to go down in flames and I think our guys understand that. It's all across the board, lining up in the right spot, get the call recognized, formation, get the proper alignment, read your pass, run key and execute. Those are the things you talk about from a defensive standpoint and all those things have to do with sometimes acting in intellect. Lining up in the right spot, taking care of your gap, knowing how your pursuit angles fall in line, things of that nature, where you don't do something that takes you out of your area of responsibility. So, that's all across the board, not just the safeties."
On having smart players: "Yeah, that's the thing about this group. This group is very astute about our game. They're men that study and they certainly are trying to improve their craft every day."
On if Quin's interceptions are enhanced because they have decided games: "I think they've probably enhanced his already fine play because of when those things occurred, you know what I mean, and they perhaps add a little bit more zest to it. He's an outstanding football player."
On how to make a decision about taking risks: "Educated, calculated risk, you know? It just kind of depends on the situation and where we are and what we have to do. We can't ever be afraid to lose. You can't coach that way, you can't play that way."
On how far T Michael Williams has come along since training camp began: "A tremendous amount. One of the things that when we talked to him about the switch early on is that when you find tackles that typically have come from the tight end position, there have been some great examples in this league because of the fact that they're extremely athletic, perhaps a little bit more athletic than the guy that maybe came from inside out in some cases. I think along in this particular case of prove you wrong, this guys is really talented. He's an athletic guy as well. But Bruce Armstrong went from outside, in. He was a tight end for us at Louisville and ended up being a great tackle. Chris Hinton was a tight end at Northwestern and ended up being a great tackle in this league when we were at Northwestern with Dennis Green. So, there are a lot of great examples of guys moving. (Nate) Solder, who's with New England, was a tight end. So, when you can find a guy that first of all, it takes the proper type of attitude in order to make that switch because the tight end, even though you're banging him around pretty good in terms of your blocking responsibility, but every once in a while you get a respite, you're able to run a pass route out on the flanks or block a strong safety. In the trenches, you don't get any breaks. So, a guy has to be willing to do it as well. He's been extremely willing and he's made an improvement by leaps and bounds. He keeps getting better."
On how he prevents the idea of making the playoffs from creeping into his mind: "We don't talk about it, just like I'm not answering that question. We keep our focus and move on."
On how he's gone about instilling a low-turnover mindset in QB Matthew Stafford: "Well, I think one of the big things is that you have to keep talking about it. You have to make it a priority and then when you do end up on the positive side of the ledger because of that, you have to make certain you reinforce that. But you keep looking for ways to reinforce it, you keep talking about it. You keep talking about it and after a while they start to believe it. And once they start to believe it and you'll see they start to take care of the ball a little bit better. What we talk to them about early on is that we had to be plus-four or better. I think we're a little bit beyond that at this point, but we still got a ways to go. It really does make a difference, particularly in tight games like you have most often in this league."
On the Bears defending the offense differently this Sunday: "I'm not certain. With that particular staff and Mel (Tucker) is a heck of a football coach. I've had a chance to work against him for a number of years. He does a tremendous job and they'll come up with a way to try to get that accomplished."
On if the cold weather will impact the offense and defense more than being indoors: "Not really, to be honest with you. Not like it used to in the old days when you couldn't wear gloves. It's has been different. Back in the old days, your hands would get slick and coaches didn't want you wearing gloves or anything of that nature. Nowadays, they can certainly minimize the effects of cold on the hands and things of that nature. But it's not going to be that cold. Thirty-something degrees? That's not cold. That's not cold to me. Cold is when you get below zero, then that changes things a little bit. But 30-some-odd degrees? Twenties? That's not cold."