• Bears defensive tackle Tommie Harris has been suspended for Sunday's game.  The reason Harris got suspended reportedly is because he missed a scheduled treatment for his injured knee.
• On top of being without Harris, the Bears also will not have cornerback Nathan Vasher as he had surgery on his shoulder right hand.  Vasher is just one of the many injured Chicago players, leaving the Bears in a tough situation considering how many backups are playing.  I imagine their defense will still have a great game against the Lions considering it is the Lions, but all of the injuries and the suspension do provide a little bit of hope.
  
• Roy Williams may have provided some bulletin board material for Bears cornerbacks.  Big surprise, right?
• The Chicago Tribune published a detailed article about how Kevin Jones recovered from his most recent injury and ended up in Chicago.  If Matt Forte wasn't the Bears' starting running back, I would definitely predict Jones to have a career day considering that's usually what all former Lions do when they play Detroit.

• Jamie Samuelsen thinks the Lions released Kevin Jones too quickly.  I tend to agree with him as they never gave Jones time to get healthy again.  Obviously they have every right to move on, but I have a feeling that move is going to come back to haunt them down the road.
• In the end I also think Jones will be much happier in Chicago then he would be if he were still on the Lions.  In fact, he is glad to be a Bear.
• The Sporting News ranked the NFL's 25 best wide receivers, and both Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson made the list.  Roy came in at #20, and C.J. was 24th.
• Colts quarterback Peyton Manning underwent surgery earlier this week on his left knee.  He will be out for a few weeks at the minimum, but is expected to be back for the start of the regular season.
• Speaking of the Colts, how would you like to get stuck sitting in these seats at their new stadium?
  

  

  Talk about a crappy view.

• The NFL is reviewing tape and has hired "experts" to find out if some players are celebrating by flashing gang signs.

Ex-Lions running back Kevin Jones has officially re-joined the NFC North.  This time he is a member of the Chicago Bears as he signed a one-year deal with them today.

Seven days before the Bears are to report for training camp, the club decided they needed help at running back and signed veteran Kevin Jones.

The former first-round draft pick of the Detroit Lions checked out medically Tuesday morning and signed a one-year contract worth $605,000. Jones comes on board five weeks after Cedric Benson was launched following his second offseason arrest, and provides some depth to a position the team still expects rookie Matt Forte to anchor.

As stated in an earlier post, I already am envisioning him having a career game when the Bears play the Lions.  Hell, I am seeing it happen twice as the Bears and Lions play each other two times.  Jones should have a great chance at becoming the Bears' starting running back if he can stay healthy, so he will definitely have a chance to prove the Lions wrong.

Former Lions running back Kevin Jones has finally found a team.  Who that team is won't be known until later today, but we do know who the two finalists are to land his services.

Tampa Bay is officially out of the running for Detroit free agent running back Kevin Jones.

Jones will sign with either Pittsburgh or Chicago on Tuesday, according to agent Tony Fleming, who said that late Monday evening. 

Previously, Fleming said five teams including Tampa Bay were interested in Jones, but despited a published report last week stating Jones was going to visit Tampa Bay this week, he said it was untrue.

I'm really hoping Jones decides to sign with Pittsburgh simply because I don't want to watch him play the Lions twice this season.  It's not that I'm scared of his talent or anything like that, but we all know what happens when ex-Lions play their former team.  Does the name Artose Pinner ring a bell?  Although he is back with the Lions now, he spent time in Minnesota and had a career day against Detroit when the two teams played.  The possibility alone of Jones signing with Chicago is already giving me thoughts of him having career days of his own against the Lions.

Unfortunately, early signs are that Jones will join Chicago as he will be visiting the Bears to take a physical today.  No contract has been offered yet, but I imagine if he passes the physical a deal will be put on the table.

• Kevin Jones is still without a team even though training camp is rapidly approaching.  Considering training camp is right around the corner, Jones is meeting with teams in hopes of finding a new home.  On Wednesday, he was in Pittsburgh to meet with the Steelers, and next week he will be in Tampa Bay to talk with the Buccaneers.  The Bucs have been mentioned as a possible destination for Jones in the past, but that still surprises me as they are pretty set at running back with Warrick Dunn, Earnest Graham, Michael Bennett, and Cadillac Williams should he get healthy.
  
  Since there is so much depth already in Tampa Bay, I wouldn't necessarily expect Jones to go into a situation where playing time would be limited, but then again, maybe that would be a good thing for him.  That way, the chance of him getting injured again is lessened and there is far less of a risk for the team that signs him.
• Sportsbook.com has set the odds of the Lions winning the Super Bowl this season at 80-1.  Unsurprisingly, those are some of the lowest odds in the entire NFL.
• Tom Lewand does not expect any Lions holdouts even though no rookies have been signed yet.  Getting Gosder Cherilus signed in time for training camp has to be the top priority as offensive linemen need as much practice as possible to get ready for the season.

• If the Detroit Lions have any interest in signing free agent running back Najeh Davenport, it appears there won't be much competition for the former Steeler.  Davenport recently said on Sirius NFL Radio that he would like to play for the Cardinals or Lions, but Arizona has no interest in him.  That means if Detroit is looking for a power back to fill the void left by T.J. Duckett's departure, Davenport could easily be brought in.  At this time it doesn't appear that there is a whole lot of interest in Davenport from the Lions' side of things, so only time will tell if talks between the two parties are initiated.
• MJD over at Shutdown Corner provided some background info on where the Lions' catchphrase came from in their crappy commercial I talked about yesterday.  The NFL's theme for the 2008 season is "Believe In Now."  If you recall the catchphrase from Detroit's commercial, it is "Do you believe in now?"  Not only are the Lions mediocre on the field, but their marketing department is proving to be just as bad.  Rather than come up with an original slogan, the Lions elected to turn the NFL's catchphrase for 2008 into a question and inserted it into their own commercial.  Awesome.  Was the universal catchphrase of all Lions fans, "Fire Millen," not allowed or something?
• By the way, of the 600+ that voted in yesterday's poll about whether or not you do believe in now, over 450 answered no as of the time of this post.
  
  UPDATE: With nearly 800 votes (as of noon ET), over 600 of you have said you do not believe in now.
• The Detroit News profiled the man helping Kevin Jones get back into playing shape.
• The Free Press caught up with Lions rookie Jordon Dizon.  I was hoping Dizon would shed some light on his legal issues, but the interview happened before news of his arrest came out.
• Lions draft bust Mike Williams appears to finally have his head on straight.  After being a total disappointment in Detroit and for a very short time in Oakland, Williams seems to have his priorities in order in Tennessee.  Williams, who was known for his poor work ethic and being overweight, has dropped almost 30 pounds since January.  I guess all it took was a change of scenery or two to make him realize that he needs to get in shape.
• Dan Patrick, a former SportsCenter anchor and a current writer for Sports Illustrated, is going to be a co-host for NBC's Sunday night football.  Patrick will share hosting duties with Bob Costas and will be re-united with a fellow former SportsCenter anchor, Keith Olbermann.  I'm not exactly sure how they are going to squeeze Patrick onto the set as along with Costas and Olbermann, Cris Collinsworth, Jerome Bettis, Tiki Barber, and Peter King are all also part of the show.
  

Recently released running back Najeh Davenport is looking for a new team, and the Lions may be near the top of his list.  The Steelers just cut Davenport over the weekend, but already he appears to be shopping himself around.  According to NFL Gridiron Gab, Davenport mentioned the Lions as a team he would like to play for yesterday on NFL Radio.  Davenport reportedly said something along the lines of him being a great fit for the Lions' power back need.

I do expect the running back position to see some movement as training camp nears simply because the Lions need depth, and Davenport legitametly could be someone Detroit takes a close look at.  With T.J. Duckett leaving Detroit after only one season, they really don't have a true power back.  Considering the offense for 2008 will focus on the run so much, I would say having a power back is somewhat necessary, as is depth.  Right now the Lions do not have either, so adding someone that can take the ball in a short yardage and pick up a tough yard or two would be nice.

Another unemployed running back looking for a team is Kevin Jones.  I mentioned yesterday that the Lions and three other teams showed up for a workout he held in Saline on Saturday.  Well, one of the teams that did not show for the workout may be interested in Jones, or at least Jones is interested in this team.

The former Lions running back is "seriously eyeing" the Tampa Bay Buccaneers according to the NFL Network's Adam Schefter.  Tampa is an appealing place to play, but I don't really understand why Jones would want to go there.  The Bucs just extended the contract of running back Earnest Graham and added veteran Warrick Dunn back in March.  Although I'm sure Jones would be up for the competition, it would make much more sense for him to sign with a team where he could be the clear cut backup at this point.

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Since being released by the Lions, running back Kevin Jones has been working hard to get healthy again.  Due to another serious leg injury, Detroit parted ways with Jones back in March.  Some saw the move as being best for both sides of the situation as the Lions needed to move on and Jones needed to find a new team.  After all, he was going to be a free agent after 2008 anyways, so why wait to get rid of him?  For me, I felt the Lions did get rid of Jones a little too quickly as they really didn't give him a chance to get back to full health.  Then again, why keep someone on the roster that has some many health issues?

Either way, Kevin Jones has been out to prove the Lions wrong ever since he was released, and he had his first chance to do so on Saturday.  Jones held a workout in Saline and Miami, Green Bay, Pittsburgh, and Detroit showed up.  The Lions had director of pro personnel Sheldon White in attendance for the workout and he came away impressed.

Before we get out the jump to conclusions mat, let's think about why the Lions went to the workout.  I don't doubt they were interested in seeing if Jones is good enough to possibly return to the team, but more than anything I imagine they are just getting an idea of where his progress is for reference purposes.  Don't rule out a return to Detroit if Jones is healthy enough, but I just can't see that happening due to how things ended the first time around.  Although only four teams did go to the workout, I'm sure Jones would be able to find a team other than the Lions to sign with.

• WhatIfSports came out with their NFL preview this week and predicted every single game for the 2008 season.  For their NFC North preview, they had the Lions tying for last in the division with the Chicago Bears thanks to a 6-10 record.  That is the same record I predicted the Lions to have, although I don't think WhatIfSports had Detroit going on nothing but winning and losing streaks.
• Lions defensive end Jared DeVries recently returned to his hometown in Iowa to witness the destruction caused by a tornado that happened at the end of last month.  The weather in Iowa lately has been absolutely horrific as there is so much flooding going on.  It literally has put the University of Iowa's campus under water.  SB Nation's Iowa blog, Black Heart Gold Pants, has more.
• Kevin Jones believes he is ready to play.  He was originally scheduled to return from his injury by training camp, and it appears as though that will happen should he sign with an NFL team by the time training camp begins.
• Roary, the Lions' mascot, was upset by the Redskins' mascot in CBS Sports' "Most Fierce NFL Mascot Competition."

• The city of Detroit is a finalist for ESPN's TitleTown USA.  The whole thing is a filler segment on SportsCenter since there aren't as many highlights to show with baseball being the only major sport going on, but it does give credence to the type of sports city Detroit is.  Of course, the Motor City is a finalist in spite of the Lions, but thankfully we do have the Red Wings, Tigers (six in a row!), and Pistons to make us feel better.  Ann Arbor is also a finalist.
  
• With Cedric Benson recently being released from the Bears, ex-Lion Kevin Jones is putting his name out there as a possible replacement in Chicago.  Jones hasn't signed with a team yet since leaving the Lions in March, and you can bet Chicago will be looking for some added depth at the running back position.  It'll take time to see if things work out for the Bears, but Jones definitely sounds like he would want to play there. 
  
  I don't blame him one bit.  After all, he could get revenge on the Lions twice a season since he would continue to play in the NFC North.  And former Lions always seem to do well when making return trips to Detroit.  Just ask Artose Pinner or Joey Harrington.  Could Jones be the next one to do that to the Lions?  I wouldn't be very surprised.
• Roy Williams doesn't want to be included in the conversation of players complaining about their contracts or team situations.  It hasn't been uncommon for players, especially receivers, to call for a trade (I'm looking at you, Ocho Cinco) or complain about their contract (hola, Plaxico Burress) lately, but Williams is saying all the right things.  Mind you, what he is saying may not be sincere, but hey, I'll take that over someone like Ocho Cinco any day.
• Calvin Johnson missed some practices recently as he was in his hometown of Atlanta for a heart surgery his father had.
• On a lighter note, Johnson scored a 243 in the Lions' annual bowling tournament, the highest of any game during the tourney.
• Rookie defensive tackle Landon Cohen finally was able to practice now that he is done with college.
• Former Lion Shaun Rogers is looking impressive at nose tackle for the Browns.
• Rod Marinelli invited 10 southeastern Michigan high schools to Allen Park to take in a day with the Lions.
• Lomas Brown worked with and will continue to work with rookie right tackle Gosder Cherilus.  Brown was honest in his current assessment of Cherilus, saying, "I don't think he's very far."  Obviously it takes time to learn the ropes of the NFL, but I think Cherilus will look better once he is able to hit some people.
• Compared to previous years, this team appears to have a more confident atmosphere surrounding them with more experienced players on defense and more control on offense.
• Rookie linebacker Jordon Dizon feels the Lions' defensive system is built for someone like him.
• Unlike Army rookie Caleb Campbell, a Navy pitcher just drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals will not get a chance to pursue his professional sports career in the near future.