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Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had to say on Day 4 of training camp. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)
On the right guard position: "We have a lot of open competition spots on the team, it's not just right guard. Right tackle, linebacker, and the corner position haven't really been solidified, our nickel position as well. There are a lot of opportunities on our team. Like you said, that's why you have training camp. We're looking for people who can be reliable and dependable over a period of time, not the guys who flashed the quickest or to make a play here or there. It's going to be through the preseason games and through our training camp practices."
On this camp being the most competitive he has experienced: "A lot of that comes from depth. There's competition for starting sports. There's also competition for playing time. There's going to be competition to make the 53 (roster). I think that for sure, particularly from top to bottom this is the most competitive we've had as far as roster in camp."
On DE Jason Jones: "His knee was a little bit sore. With heavy practice yesterday and having another pads practice tomorrow we gave him today. There's going to come a time where we've got to push through soreness and pain and things like that, but the fourth day of training camp is not that day. We figured if we give them the day, then maybe we can put that behind them and move on."
On CB Chris Greenwood: "Greenwood and Jonté Green, we've had some corners that have some hamstrings, which is something that happens. In today's practice we spent most of it in the red zone with an eye towards trying to limit the running of some of those guys, but they still got a few soft edges. I don't know if anything's really more than a day-to-day situation right now. We have a couple of guys that are getting some tests. (Ron) Bartell is getting his shoulder looked at. Jonté is getting his hamstring looked at. We have some guys who are getting some MRI's and things like that. Hopefully they can stay and go all day once we get the results of those."
On CB Darius Slay: "He got some reps in OTA's in minicamp, but it was towards the ends. He has picked things up very quickly and he's matched up well against a lot of different types of receivers, from the smaller guys to the Calvin Johnsons. It seems like every day he breaks up a ball and gets his hands on a football. He's on the right path right now. We need to keep him there. "
On K Håvard Rugland making the competition interesting: "That'll yet to be determined. Again, just like our other positions, we're looking for somebody to be consistent over the course of time. We started (David) Akers out a little bit slower based on the offseason he had. That's going to be the thing with Rugland. It's not going to be one 58-yarder, it's being consistent over the course of time. Those are the things that you look for in a placekicker. He certainly has the talent to do it. He is getting better every day. I said before, he is like some of those baseball players or golfers that don't swing real hard, but the ball jumps off their bat. That's sort of the leg he has. He takes a nice easy swing and has plenty of leg to hit anything on the field."
On S Louis Delmas being on schedule: "Yesterday he did a series of 7-on-7, maybe you guys missed that. Today was his scheduled day off. Tomorrow we'll get him just a little bit more. It's not going to be all of a sudden he's doing every single period in practice. It's going to be a little bit more each day. He's feeling good and we're trying to keep it that way."
On the dependability of LB Stephen Tulloch on defense: "Tulloch and (DeAndre) Levy both have a lot of experience in this defense. They're both veteran players and both young veteran players. Also, the carryover from some of our safeties, but even adding a Glover Quin, he's not new to the defense anymore. He's been here for a while, he's picked everything up. He plays like a veteran player out there. The interior of our defense, the safeties and the linebackers, we have a lot of experience. Glover's experience was with another team, but typically when that's the case they pick things up quickly. They're not trying to learn everything from scratch. They're really just trying to learn terminology and a couple of different things here or there. Veteran players like him and Chris (Houston), it's a little bit easier for those guys to pick it up and be able to make calls and an impact earlier than some of the rookies."
On having CB Chris Houston and S Glover Quin: "Chris has had an outstanding camp so far. He's done really well. A lot of the calls that come from the secondary are made by the safeties. Unfortunately we've had a revolving door at safety. Even with keeping Delmas on the field the last couple of years. It's about how the group performs, it's not about individual achievement. I like the defensive line. The more we keep those guys in place around him, I think communication helps because Chris has had an outstanding start so far."
On having players with good character on this team: "When you talk about that, we've had sometimes in the past where a handful of guys, a few guys on the roster, made headlines and soiled the reputation of a lot of others. I think we have a lot more veteran players who have been around and survived a lot of different circumstances. That perspective helps a lot of young players."
On the upgraded talent at cornerback over the past few years: "Healthy, this is the best group of corners we've had. We still have a long way to go. They have to prove it over a period of time. We have seen some good flashers from some young players like (Darius) Slay and Bill Bentley, but the proof is going to be over the course of time."
On which players are having a great camp: "I could probably spend about 10 minutes naming guys who are playing well. I'd probably rather not just keep singling different guys out. I think as a group they're working hard. We're working smart in a lot of different areas. The issues a lot of the times we have had, like today in practice, has been the third group. We have had some turnovers in the red zone come from our third offense. We have some mental errors on our defense come from the third group. That's stuff we really need to push and those are the guys that need to put that stuff behind because there are guys who are trying to make a good impression. They get extra reps at the end of practice. There are opportunities for those guys to show what they can do, and that works both ways. Sometimes showing that you can't make a play or you can't be trusted is every bit as important as showing that you can."
On the importance of the offensive line building continuity: "Adding Larry Warford in, he's a rookie, all those other guys are veterans or they've been with us. Even guys like Rodney Austin were with us on the practice squad. I think a lot of that has been developed over time. Those guys are used to playing next to each other. Jason Fox has been here. Even though last year was his first healthy year, he spent a lot time on the practice field with us. Same thing with Corey Hilliard. Guys like Jake Scott and Leroy Harris, he got on the field today and that snuck by a lot of people but he was out doing some individual today. Those guys are veteran players, and again we want to be consistent over the course of time. That's going to be part of the criteria with who we make decisions to go with. We're not going to rush on any of those decisions. "
On how much more improvement TEs Tony Scheffler and Brandon Pettigrew need: "I don't know if it is improvement, but it is production. I think one of the big things last year was turnovers, and that goes for the tight end position, the offense positions and that goes for defense. Our turnover takeaways were decreased in half. Emphasis on taking care of the football, those guys all have big playability. I like where both of those guys are. They're veteran players and both of them have shown that they can contribute to the offense. "