• Remember that face mask against Daunte Culpepper in the Panthers game that didn't draw a penalty?  Well, it drew Panthers linebacker Jon Beason a $5,000 fine.
• Drew Stanton said this about the hit that led to his concussion during Sunday's game:
  

  As for the hit by Tampa Bay's Jimmy Wilkerson, Stanton admitted Monday, "It felt brutal."
  
  "But I never lost consciousness or anything like that," he said. "I was kind of just groggy and a little bit out of it. I feel good today. My head's clear. My neck's a little bit sore, but that's to be expected with kind of the whiplash that occurred. ...
  
  "When I got hit, I thought maybe it just shook the cobwebs up a little bit. But it never really calmed down. And at that point the physicians came over and evaluated me and it wasn't in my best interest to go back out there.

  Stanton will not likely suit up for Thursday's game, which is why quarterback Drew Henson was signed to the active roster on Monday.
• Former Lions defensive tackle Luther Ellis and his wife have eleven kids -- five of their own and six that are adopted.
• Dave Birkett recently shared his thoughts on Martin Mayhew and the general manager situation.
• Tom Kowalski doesn't believe that Rod Marinelli should be fired yet.  I agree since there is no point to fire him right now.  We're already about to be 12 games into the season, so the Lions might as well let him finish coaching this mess for the rest of the year.  Besides, no one on the coaching staff is competent to take over as the head coach anyways.
• The Lions are the perfect team to play after losing your first game of the season, as the Titans will find out this Thursday.
• The Lions' losing ways are causing their fans do some strange things, including wrestling shirtless in a parking lot following the loss to the Buccaneers.

Since this is a short week and Drew Stanton suffered a concussion during yesterday's game, there is no way that he will be ready to play on Thursday against the Titans.  Because the Lions don't want to have only one healthy quarterback on the team, Drew Henson was signed to the active roster today and will be Daunte Culpepper's backup. 

According to John Niyo, the deal is two-years long, so I'm inclined to believe that Dan Orlovsky will be headed to the injured reserve to make room for Henson.  If Henson was simply going to be on the active roster until Stanton was healthy again, there would be no reason to sign him for two years.  Since the Lions did just that, my guess is that they want to keep him on the team for at least the rest of this season and are keeping him in their future plans.

The Lions also re-signed wide receiver Eric Fowler to the practice squad and released Joel Filani, another WR, from it.

• Calvin Johnson hurt his thigh against Carolina and "will be limited in practice this week."
  
• Buccaneers running back Earnest Graham may be out for the season and will likely miss this coming Sunday's game against the Lions.  Graham rushed for 92 yards and caught 13 passes for 99 yards in last year's game between the Lions and Buccaneers.  Detroit won 23-16 to improve to 4-2.
• All of the charges filed against Kalvin Pearson as a result of an incident in April have been dropped.
• This is probably the only time I will agree with Rob Parker, but yes, Jason Hanson deserves better.  His 56-yard field goal in the Panthers game was awesome.
• Drew Sharp is completely wrong in saying that going 0-16 is impossible.  Although there is always the chance that the Lions could pull off an upset and finally get a win, there is no guarantee that they will.  They are that bad, and going 0-16 is definitely possible.  The fact that Sharp thinks it isn't make me think the Lions will for sure go winless.
• Dwight Smith is going to run at full speed today.  He has missed the last four games with a midfoot sprain.
• Daunte Culpepper was scheduled to be a captain for this past Sunday's game.
• Tom Kowalski doesn't think there is any credence behind the talk of Brian Billick coming to Detroit to coach the Lions.  That makes sense since no credible rumors will come about until it is determined who the general manager is going into 2009.
• When Drew Stanton threw a touchdown pass to John Owens against the Jaguars two weeks ago, it was the first time either of the players had scored.  Both obviously want the football they scored their first TD with, but right now it doesn't appear that it has been determined who will get it.
• Speaking of Stanton, Jim Colletto said he "did good" against Jacksonville.
• The Eagles and Bengals played to a tie on Sunday, and Donovan McNabb didn't even know that was possible.  Wow.

• I don't necessarily think there is suddenly a quarterback controversy within the coaching staff, because they unfortunately seem content with Daunte Culpepper.  However, I do believe that Drew Stanton should get more playing time.  Having both Culpepper and Stanton play can't be good for the rhythm of the offense, but does it really matter at this point?  Getting Stanton more experience is necessary, and although I don't want to see him get sacked over and over again, he needs to play.
• Both of the Lions' starting defensive ends left the Jaguars game due to injuries.  Dewayne White left early on with a calf injury and will be re-evaluated today.  Jared DeVries fractured a bone in his left hand and will have surgery on it tomorrow.  White and DeVries aren't expected to play on Sunday against Carolina, meaning the Lions' defense will be even weaker than it usually is.
• As Mike O'Hara points out, the Lions are in danger of losing their annual Thanksgiving game.  For years people have called for the Lions to give the game to another team since they have been so mediocre.  That is still the case this year, but how do you think the NFL will react if the Thanksgiving game is blacked out locally?  That is beyond a real possibility at this point, and my guess is that this could very well be the Lions' last Thanksgiving game until things get turned out.
• Another thing Mike O'Hara mentioned is this scary thought:
  

  Julius Peppers: He had three sacks for Carolina in Sunday's win at Oakland. He'll be lined up over Gosder Cherilus, the Lions' rookie right tackle, in Sunday's game.

  I feel really sorry for whoever starts at QB for the Lions.
  
• The paid attendance for yesterday's game was a Ford Field record low of 52,631.
• The Lions' 75th Season All-Time Team was honored at halftime yesterday.

• It is looking more and more like Dan Orlovsky will be placed on the injured reserve in the very near future.  Orlovsky has two fractures and a torn ligament in his right thumb, and he will see another hand specialist next week to get a second opinion.  My guess is that he will head to the IR, as it seems like surgery will be necessary, meaning the Lions would be left with Daunte Culpepper, Drew Stanton, and Drew Henson at quarterback for the rest of the season.
• As you could probably guess, Orlovsky will not play against Jacksonville tomorrow, and speculation continues to suggest that Daunte Culpepper will get the start.
• Lions safety Kalvin Pearson was fined $7,500 by the NFL for his horse-collar tackle on Devin Hester during last week's game against the Bears.
• Gerald Alexander's neck surgery last week was "successful."
• Here's a shocker: Roy Williams isn't happy with his role on the Cowboys.

• 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.

• The Lions' All-Time Team will be announced at noon today.  In all, there are 36 players on the team, and 12 of them are members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
• There have been various reports all week about whether or not Drew Stanton will play this season.  The general consensus was that although he will not start, there is a slim chance that he will get into a game here or there just to gain experience.  However, Lions offensive coordinator Jim Colletto made some very telling comments on Thursday that didn't exactly give me much hope that Stanton will play this season.
  

  “The experiment to throw him in there right now wouldn’t be fair to him at this point,” Colletto said.

  Why?

  “Well, he’s not ready to do that yet,” Colletto said. “I’m not going to embarrass the kid just to prove a point to somebody else.”

  Reading between the lines, it is obvious that Stanton isn't improving as quickly as he should be.  That is understandable to an extent considering he's had to deal with injuries, but it is pretty sad that he would be "embarrassed" if he were to play.  I do want to get a look at him before the end of the season, but if he can't get to a point where the coaches don't think he would play embarrassingly bad, then it may be time to just look ahead to other options for good.
• Joe Barry doesn't think the Tampa 2 is the problem with the Lions' defense.  I agree.  But that's only because I think the problem is a lack of talent and terrible coaching.
• Mike Singletary has a weird way of motivating his players.

• Tom Kowalski suggests that Drew Stanton may get some playing time in the near future regardless of whether or not he actually starts.  The speculation is that the Lions could get a look at Stanton without throwing him out there as the starter.  If he plays well, then he could get more playing time.  On the flip side, if he plays poorly and looks unready, then someone like Daunte Culpepper could be signed, allowing Stanton to continue to develop.
• Dan Orlovsky played dumb when he was asked about Daunte Culpepper's visit with the Lions. 
  
• The Lions worked out five veteran safeties earlier this week.  Since Dwight Smith may miss another game due to an injury, there may be a need to sign another safety for depth reasons.
• Rod Marinelli thinks Cliff Avril is a "special player."
• You need talented players to make the Tampa 2 work, which explains why the Lions haven't had any success with it.
• It seems as though a change of scenery did quite a bit for Shaun Rogers.
• Fullback Darian Barnes, who was just signed earlier this week, is a former Tampa Bay Buccaneer.

• Drew Stanton isn't going to start at quarterback this season barring an injury to Dan Orlovsky or something drastically changing talent-wise.  Rod Marinelli is not going to start Stanton simply to evaluate him for the future, which is just dumb in my opinion.  Getting him some playing time is good for the future, yet Marinelli doesn't seem like he is going to change his mind on this topic.
• Here's your weekly injury update from Marinelli:
  

  “Just a quick update on the injuries. Jordon (Dizon) is still nursing a hamstring. Felton has a high ankle sprain so we’re still looking at that right now and he could miss this week and maybe one more but that’s—we’ll find out a little bit more Wednesday. Casey (FitzSimmons) had some ribs; I think he’ll be okay. And Dwight Smith with the foot, (it’s) still somewhat questionable and we’ll find out during the week.”

  Marinelli also mentioned that Damion Cook may be able to play on Sunday against the Bears.
• There were tons of Redskins fans at the game on Sunday, helping make up for some of the empty seats.  I emphasize the word "some" since there were still lots of empty seats.
• Apparently Peter King guaranteed the Lions won't go 0-16.
• I agree with the FanHouse's Ryan Wilson, the Lions signing Mike Vick when he gets out of prison would be the worst idea ever.  If he were on the team I would refuse to root for them.
• Some people should just not be on TV.
• Many NFL players reportedly tested positive for water pills, which may result in suspensions since they are illegal.  Water pills can apparently mask a positive steroid test, though most the players involved in this situation seem to have used water pills for weight loss reasons.