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Lions quotes: Jim Schwartz's comments from Monday's press conference

Quotes from Jim Schwartz's Monday press conference.

Leon Halip

Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had to say during his Monday press conference. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)

Opening statement: "I usually don't address depth chart issues or inactive issues, but we do have something that's come up. (WR) Titus Young will be inactive this week. When you play a game like football, it's a team sport and players have obligations to the team and Titus hasn't done a very good job of fulfilling those obligations this week and recently. He'll be inactive this week and we'll plug the other guys in and go on."

On if it is a suspension: "Not at this point, but how we go in the future is going to depend on Titus and his behavior. How it goes in the future is going to depend on his reaction and it's disappointing because this is ground that we've already covered. I thought that we would be past this but we haven't been and his behavior on Sunday was unacceptable. It hurt the team, particularly on offense, and it was a distraction. We're going to eliminate that distraction particularly this week."

On the behavior that was a distraction: "I'm not going to get into the very particulars, but like I said before when you play a team sport you need to put team before yourself and there's no room for selfish behavior. There's no room for doing anything other than your job. When you're a player, it's your job to make the team happy. It's not the team's job to make you happy."

On why it has taken him so long to mature: "That's a very good question. I think in spots we have seen progress, but in this case it's disappointing because I thought we were past this but obviously we're not."

On if this is something that has been building or if it's a one-time incident: "It's been recent weeks and unfortunately the other thing is it's been after the most success he had, which was the Seattle game. I generally don't go here with doing stuff like this, but it was eventually going to come out that he was here and he was sent home today. He won't be active (when) we're playing the game on Thursday."

On his behavior taking a toll on those around him: "Everybody has issues that come up, everybody has things that they need to handle, everybody has challenges. Whether it's fighting for a back-up role, a starting role, doing a good job in whatever role you have, everybody goes through that. The thing is you always need to think of the team before yourself and particularly recently, that hasn't always been the case and that needs to change."

On if Young's status is week-to-week: "Right now it's a week-to-week thing, yes. But he will not play this week."

On how much WR Nate Burleson's absence in the locker room played into Young's recent behavior: "That's no excuse. Nate has been a very good leader for us and a strong leader not only for the team but in his meeting room. But that's no excuse for anything else. This is personal behavior and the only person to be accountable is the person, which is Titus."

On addressing the issue between Offensive Coordinator Scott Linehan and Wide Receivers Coach Shawn Jefferson and if it was about Young: "I'm not going to address the issue, but I think that No.1 we certainly don't want to let our emotions get the best of us on the sideline. Football is an emotional game. We've seen players have conflicts; coaches and players and in this case coaches and coaches. I've been part of the NFL for a long time and there's very rarely a game that goes by that something is not said, usually over the headset or something that somebody takes offense to or interprets the wrong way or whatever you want to call it. But usually it's done quickly. I think in this case it was done very publicly and that's regrettable, but then also it was the frustration of the game situation. We had a chance to pretty much seal the game with a touchdown. We didn't get that done. We had a chance after that to drive down and potentially get a game-winning field goal, which we've done quite a few times. We didn't get that done. Those guys are fine, those guys have been fine. There are no issues. The thing about it is they were both on the same side of the argument. In the heat of the moment they ended up missing that fact. They were both on the same side of argument."

On Young practicing tomorrow: "Yet to be determined, but I doubt that he will practice tomorrow."

On if the second-and-10, false start penalty on T Gosder Cherilus being contributed to Young at all: "I never like to get a hundred percent into the things, but that was one of the issues. Titus was lined up in the wrong spot in that case and it caused a lot of confusion on offense. Really, I don't like to excuse any behavior from any player, but with Gosder - he was sitting in the block for way too long. Anybody that's ever run track, you can't keep guys in blocks that long and it was because of the situation with getting aligned."

On if this is strike two for Young: "I don't know if I can classify it that way, but his behavior is going to have to change. This is a team sport; it's not an individual sport. Eventually there is no more opportunities to be able to get it right."

On why the offense was out of rhythm: "That's a combination of a lot of things. You know, there were some times early in the game I think we had four drops-what we would consider drops. Not all of them are easy, right in your hands catches but a lot of them were early in that game. You know, Matt (Stafford) made an accurate throw and we failed to make the catch. There were some times later on where we had guys open and Matt didn't make an accurate throw. There were other times where we had guys open and he couldn't find them because he had been rushed. You know, he didn't have time to be able to find them.

"So, everyone is going to be a combination of a lot of different things. We didn't pass the ball very effectively, and we need to be able to do that to be able to win. The fact that we were able to overcome the turnovers, our defense was able to keep us in. It's a disappointing thing in this game that the way the game finished overshadowed what the defense did for about 57 minutes of that game. I thought our defense did a very good job of handling a high-powered offense and limiting a quarterback, limiting a run game. We didn't get a safety into the box very much at all. We held them to 3.3 yards a carry. We played very well up front. We played very well with our linebackers, but it was overshadowed by the end of the game. I mean, we saved it until the very end. I mean, our worst drive, we give up a draw for a first down, give up a slide route to a tight end who gets loose down the field and then give up a touchdown on a pass that, you know, if we wanted to be in a coverage for that route, that's the one we needed to be in. But we didn't make a play and they did. That's a disappointing way to finish and I think that the way our front played, the way our linebackers played, can get overshadowed and unfortunately does get overshadowed by the loss. But that's life in the NFL. That's what happens."

On CB Drayton Florence: "I do have one other, this is all kinds of time for all kinds of stuff, hey it's life. The injury report is going to come out, our practice report, whatever you want to call it, the way it would have gone. Drayton Florence was diagnosed with a concussion this morning. He left the game early in the game, I believe it was the first play of the game. The official removed him from the game. Our guys checked him. He passed all the tests on the sideline. He returned to play. He played pretty well. Didn't have any signs as we went forward. Didn't seek any treatments, wasn't having any symptoms after the game. This morning woke up with a headache. Can't say mild or severe or anything else, but our guys did diagnose him this morning with a concussion, so he's listed today with a concussion."

On T Riley Reiff stepping in for Backus and if it is an advantage to know he'll start: "I think there's definitely something to it because Riley has been practicing different spots. I mean each week on scout team he's practiced in a different spot. To keep his ability to play right tackle, left tackle, guard, any place but center he's practiced. And then also the place he's practiced on offense has been the places he's been running the game. So it definitely gives him a chance to settle in at the left tackle spot and be able to get a week, or a couple days, of stuff like that. But, just like any other player, he was inconsistent at times but did some good things for us and we can all play a little bit player."

On what he has seen from WR Ryan Broyles: "Yeah, he's, going back to preseason, whenever he's been given the opportunity he's made plays. And with the situation with Titus, he's one of the guys that has the potential to be able to benefit from that. As will Mike Thomas who we just traded for recently, and even Brian Robiskie."

On if there is a place in football for a steady player like Broyles: "Yeah, I don't know that I would tag him with that. That sounds negative to tag him with that. I think he's, I mean he's the all-time leading receiver in college football history. That's not steady, that's high quality play. He's still coming back from the ACL. I think we can get a little, we can lose that fact a little bit. I think he's right around a year right now. Typically players improve and look better, other than Adrian Peterson, it's usually the next year that you really start looking like yourself and I think that the glass is still half full for Ryan Broyles. And that being said he has been productive in his role. Now his role will increase."

On if Young's situation is similar to former CB Aaron Berry's: "We're not talking off field. We're talking about the team here. This is a different dynamic. This wasn't a legal matter or something off field. These are two different incidents."

On if this was DT Nick Fairley's best game: "Oh, I don't think there's any doubt it was his best game. It's probably the best complete game that he played and even going back when we played New Orleans on that Sunday night he played a quarter and had a sack, a couple tackles for loss, I think four tackles and he was only in one quarter of play. But he had to leave because he reinjured his foot in that game. In this game he was able to play the whole way-and with Corey Williams being down these last couple games, I mean, Corey means a lot to our defense and has played at a really high level. We needed somebody to step up, and Nick has done that. And he's maturing as a player, he's maturing as person and he's been a guy that the defense can count on being in the right spot. I mean, this was probably his most assignment-sound game that he's ever played and it showed in the stat sheet and it showed in the play. Like I said, our whole front played well."

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