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Lions quotes: Jim Schwartz's comments from Wednesday

Quotes from Jim Schwartz's Wednesday media session.

USA TODAY Sports

Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had to say after Wednesday's practice. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)

On a losing streak at the end of a season carry over into the next season: "I don't know. I think that you have to be careful of thinking anything is going carry over from one year to the next. That's a long offseason and things like that. Our job is to go out and win this game and not worry about what's going to happen afterwards or a month from now or anything else."

On what has made Cardinals' CB Patrick Peterson so good so early: "I don't know; everything. He's got great size, he's got great speed, he's got great ball skills; good punt returner. There was no surprise to anybody. He was drafted high. He played that way in college at a really high level of competition so he's certainly one of the best young corners in the NFL."

On the decision to place DT Corey Williams on IR: "A very difficult decision because a lot like Lou, he's an extremely tough player. He's played through a lot of injuries and a lot of pain and you can always count on him. It tells you a little bit about how his knee has been the fact that he wasn't able to do that. Corey started off the year this year with one of the best games that we've had from a defensive tackle against the Rams. Since then his knee has really been a problem. It's been hard for him to practice consistently. It's been hard for him to be able to go out and do what he can normally do as a player. He's worked extremely hard and he's really, really tough so it's not a matter of those two things. But he hadn't been able to get on the field recently and it just got to the point that it was the best decision to shut him down for his future and our ability to be able to put a team on the field."

On QB Matthew Stafford being the focus of critiques because of the losses this season: "He's looked the same. He does the same things this year as he did last. We've been one play away from flipping our record and if we make those one plays then people say what they will. Our job is to go out every week and worry about ourselves, not to worry about what other people say. There are things we can all do better, including Matt, but we certainly have a lot of confidence that Matt's going to lead us to a lot of great things."

On if WR Calvin Johnson closing in on WR Jerry Rice's record is tough to celebrate because the team's record: "First, a little bit like the Patrick Peterson question, everything has impressed me about Calvin. But it's not a surprise for people that have been around here. We know what kind of guy he is; we know what kind of worker he is. So as talented as he is his success doesn't come as a surprise to anybody. We're going to do whatever we can each week to try to win that game and Calvin's been a big part of that so every week we try to get him the ball. If we get to that spot then we will talk about it then."

On if you are ever amazed by what Johnson does or if it becomes commonplace: "I told him on the field (at the Houston game) he made that play down the sideline, that lay-out catch, and I told him, ‘I don't really like to say great catch,' but I've come to see him so many times that you don't always want to say that. But yeah he can do things that a lot of other people can't. Obviously he has talent and a lot of guys in the League have talent but he's got such...and I said this in the spring when we signed him to that long-term contract: As good a player as he is, he's a better teammate and he's a better person and that's why we're so proud of him."

On if Stafford's next level of progression includes improvement at the line of scrimmage when reading defenses: "As far as the stuff at the line of scrimmage, we've done that since he was a rookie. I think a lot of that stuff is documented on some of the NFL Films when he's mic'd up. He's very good at doing those kinds of things. He's always been good at reading defenses. I don't think there's anything that he needs to do better there. We've turned the ball over a little bit more this year than in the past. That's probably...but there are a lot of reasons for those. I don't think there are things that we're sitting there saying that...I think it's more refining than it is he needs to improve on things."

On how T Jason Fox has developed: "That's been his number one thing his whole career is being able to have extended periods of being healthy. I think he's made a lot of strides that way obviously because he's still been on the field for us and seems to have put those things in the past. He's always been a smart player. He's a little bit more physically developed. Think he's a good, young player. He's got a bright future ahead of him."

On CB Chris Houston: "Chris has matched up some pretty good wide receivers. Gone out and competed very well and taken some pretty good wide receivers out of the game. He's had some injury situations even going back to the preseason but he's been able to battle through a lot of those. Hadn't always been a 100-percent, but he's a guy that is a good pro. He's been around a long time. We talked about guys like Corey Williams and how tough those guys are but you can't overlook what Chris Houston's done this year at all."

On having to lean on Houston because of other injuries in the secondary: "You always lean on veteran players when that happens, and Chris has been a very consistent player for us this year for sure. He's showing good leadership back there. He's persevered through a lot of different stuff and he's come to play every single Sunday."

On bringing DT Andre Fluellen back: "Knowing the scheme had a lot to do with it, but also us knowing him. He's played some good football for us. This year when we got into a numbers thing at the end of camp we went with five (defensive) ends and four (defensive) tackles rather than five tackles and four ends. Flu was sort of the odd man out but it really had nothing to do with the kind of training camp he was having or his talent. It was more just a numbers situation about where we are. We're excited to have him back. I know he's excited to be back. If we need him on Sunday I know he'll be ready."

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