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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.)
On if they want to be active at the trade deadline: "I don't really have any comment on that. Our personnel department is always looking at ways to improve our team and I don't think today or tomorrow will be any different and it won't end then. Those guys are always evaluating the waiver wire, anything else like potential free agents, guys on the street that could help. We have had a couple big pickups since training camp began so I wouldn't anticipate it being any different."
On WR Ryan Broyles injury: "He is going to have surgery tomorrow and he will be out for the year, he has a ruptured Achilles. It's tough, it's been the last two years, three years now where he had season ending injuries. Those are not easy to come back from but he is a tough guy. If anybody can come back from it, he can."
On what the injury does to his growth as a player: "His ability to become what we hoped he would really has nothing to do with his development as much as it is his health. Even with the time he has missed he has found ways to come in and contribute. He just hasn't been 100 percent his first two years and now he's going through the same thing again. His experience in going through it, I'm sure, will help. It is a tough thing to go through, for any player much less three years in a row."
On how the trade deadline has changed since he entered the league: "I've never seen any statistics on deals that are made but I know that moving it back changes the dynamic. It gives you a little more opportunity to evaluate your team and the potential for some teams to make business decisions when it comes to other players or draft picks."
On his feeling of the team at the halfway mark: "I mean we are 5-3 and I don't think there is anything else that you can say other than that. I don't put grades on it, I don't know if it is a D, an A, a B, a C or a F, I don't know, it will tell over the course of the year. We found a way to get five wins and we found a way to lose three games. That's just where it is. This is the end of our second quarter of the season, a 2-2 quarter after a 3-1 first quarter. There is positives in there, there are negatives in there we just have to keep on working. We are only halfway through the season and the tale of this season is not going to be written in the first half, it is going to be written in the second half and that is what we have to concentrate on."
On if the win vs. Dallas can be looked back on as a touchstone victory: "We scored (17 points) in the fourth quarter of the Cleveland game. We were down at halftime of that game. We came back, played an outstanding second half in the win over Minnesota in the opener. It's not the first time we've come back and it's not the first time we've won a game on the last play of the game. Last year with the Rams here, we won a game on the last play. We've had a bunch of these situations that have come up. I think the game stands on its own. I don't think anybody's going to be carrying a rally flag that says ‘Remember the Cowboys game.' There's confidence that goes with knowing that you can come back in games, but I think this team has always had that. I think this team has always battled to the very end. I wouldn't expect yesterday to be any different than that from a mentality standpoint."
On winning the game despite having four turnovers: "I think when you have four turnovers or you're -4 in turnovers and you still win the game, you had to have played very well in a lot of other areas and we did. You just don't have four turnovers, play mediocre and win the game. We had 620 yards of total offense. Our defense was outstanding on third down. We limited their playmakers. Their two guys we thought were their biggest playmakers were Dez Bryant and Jason Witten and they had five catches between them. I think there were a lot of other good things in that game that helped us overcome the fact that we had the four turnovers. We could have made it a lot easier for ourselves if we didn't have them. There are some lessons to be learned there. Our offense this year has done a very good job of protecting the football as had the Cowboys coming into the game. They were able to protect it in the game. I'll trade any stat, I'll trade anything for a win, just a one-point win any day of the week. So I think there's certainly things we need to do better in protecting the football, particularly the fumbles. Some of our best players, probably three of our best players were responsible for turnovers in the game. We certainly need to do better. I think your point's well-taken. You can't make a recipe of being behind in the turnover margin. This is I think the first time this year that we were negative and won the game."
On what WR Jeremy Ross has done to earn his spot returning kicks: "I saw it was reported that we had benched (Micheal) Spurlock and that's not the case. I don't know if anybody noticed, we kept up eight offensive linemen. We had to keep up four tackles because of our injury situation. He happened to be the one spot we knew we were going to have a lot of defensive backs available for some of their four and five wide receiver stuff. That wasn't a performance thing, it was just roster management. We could win the game by fair-catching opponents. We couldn't win the game if we ran out of offensive tackles, so we wanted to make sure with two guys that weren't 100-percent and one guy that we had just signed this week, we wanted to make sure that we had enough guys there. That was the reason behind that."
On having multiple offensive linemen being able to step in at right tackle due to injury issues: "We felt very strong when we left camp, not just our starting players but also the depth that we had at offensive line, particularly the tackles. I think we're very fortunate to have four guys that were starter-capability. We've needed that so far this year. We stayed healthy on the offensive line in the past. We've had other positions where we were had ton of injuries. It's just sort of the way things go, but we have confidence in those guys. I think (LaAdrian) Waddle stepped in and played pretty well the last couple weeks. He's an undrafted rookie free agent, but none of that matters now. When you're on the field, you're expected to do your job and contribute and he's done that."
On if the bye week comes at a good time for players nursing injuries: "I think the bye week comes at a good time for 53 guys, not just the guys that are nursing some other injuries and stuff like that. There's never a bad time for the bye when it comes to getting players some rest and getting rejuvenated for the last eight games of the year."
On if WR Ryan Broyles suffered his injury while trying to avoid a punt: "Oh no, he was making the decision to let it go over his head because it ended up being a touchback. It was a good decision. Ryan is a really good decision maker back there. Our blood pressure was very low when it came to knowing he would get the ball caught and make good decisions back there. He was letting it go. We have seen a bunch of Achilles where it doesn't look like very much, just a little bit of a change of direction. It wasn't an explosive movement. It just is what it is. I've seen unfortunately too many Achilles injuries that you would look at it and say, ‘Jeeze that was it?' That's what happens."
On WR Nate Burleson's pending return lessen the loss of Broyles: "Potentially. It's too soon to know when Nate's going to be able to return. Nate's time table will be based on his health, not because of the health of any player. We're not going to rush him back because Broyles is out. It's the same way that we wouldn't have held him back if Broyles had stayed healthier or the other wide receivers stayed healthy. Every injury is on their own. We want to try to get those guys the time they need to be able to rehab and recover the best they can, so when they are back on the field they stay on the field."
On having conversations with RB Mikel Leshoure regarding trade rumors: "No. You guys handle that for me. He hasn't played very much this year, but I know he's ready to play. If he's called on, he'll do well out there. It's just the way it is right now. Reggie (Bush) is in his role and Joique (Bell) is doing well in his role. Theo (Riddick) came back and played well especially. He had one play on special teams where he blocked three guys on the same play. Theo has really stepped in and has done a nice job on teams. You can only keep up 46 on game day. I would like to have all 53 guys up, but it's just not in the rules."
On if RB Theo Riddick's block occurred on WR Jeremy Ross' run: "Yes. On the kickoff return out to the left."
On WR Calvin Johnson's performance yesterday: "Honestly, when you look at the film, it sort of creeps up on you. You don't really see it as being that kind of day because you just expect so many of those plays. The 87-yarder certainly takes a big chunk of that yardage. I think if you look at it, he would probably even say the same thing, there were some other plays where he was real close to having more. That first third down of the game, he almost tipped the ball to himself which would have been another circus amazing catch. With a guy like Calvin, you tend to look at that at as a missed opportunity. With somebody else you wouldn't even think that. He's a big play machine. When he's covered he's still open."
On TE Joseph Fauria's role looking forward: "Every week is going to be a little bit different. I think that everybody's role is going to change from week-to-week and things like that. He can contribute in other ways other than the red zone. We used a lot of three wide receiver personnel and it only keeps one tight end on the field. That's no reflection on him. He wasn't benched or deemphasized. We wanted to keep them in nickel packages, and I thought our offense did a good job. We have 623 yards on offense and we scored 31 points and won the game. That's the only thing I really care about with who got used and anything else. Anybody that's disappointed in that, I'll leave to the fantasy football owners and stuff like that. It just is what it is."