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Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz had to say after Sunday's training camp practice. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)
On the importance of WR Patrick Edwards to show his progress from training camp in games: "Not just for him, that's for all of our players. What they do out here on the practice fields and the way they show what they know, what to do in meetings and walk through, none of that does any good unless you can translate that into the games. He is still a young player. He missed a lot of time last year with injury. He needs to be productive not just in practice, but in the preseason games."
On RB Theo Riddick's toe injury: "He got stepped on. They took him in just to make sure nothing was wrong and to get an x-ray on it. I wouldn't anticipate, or know anything yet, but he got stepped on in practice."
On if WR Calvin Johnson and RB Reggie Bush were given rest days: "Yeah to them and a couple other guys. We had a physical practice yesterday. Also, it allows some of the other guys behind them to get some reps. With some of our injuries in the defensive secondary, we have had more of a difficult time to give reps to some of the wide receivers. Giving Calvin a day lets the other guys have chances to go and make, get with (Matthew) Stafford and (Shaun) Hill, and move up a notch. We even got some of the younger quarterbacks in the two minute that we haven't before. It was good a situation there, but we eased back on a couple of guys today."
On the significance of the officials blowing the whistle at the end of every play: "That has been something that there has been feedback from the players. You would hear some whistles, but there would be a lot of times you wouldn't really get a whistle. You get something where you hit somebody late and they always say play till the whistle, but there's no whistle. Our guys are responsible for what they do on the field. They have to be able to judge things. Particularly around the sidelines, if a guy is out of bounds or not. I think that will go a long way to help in some of the situations that have gone where you have had hits. They're trying to do a lot with player safety with guys in piles and with guys piling into piles. The whistle will help in those cases, too."
On if he expects any compliance problems with the players' pads being checked: "No. Our players wear full pads, other than our kickers. Our players wear full pads for practices. That's something that they do for all the four years that I've been here. It's not that much of a difference. The technology with pads has increased so much. Anything that they can do to prevent a thigh bruise or a banged knee that maybe puts them out of a practice or miss a game with, I think we're all in favor of that. Players, coaches, league, everybody."
On if DE Israel Idonije's injury is short-term: "Yes. He's out there working right now. He's close to coming back. He's got a little bit of a leg issue. He sort of tweaked a hamstring. I wouldn't say he pulled it. He's moving pretty good today. He's real close. The one thing you want to avoid in some of those, I've said this before, a lot of hamstrings we take the approach of saying when he's ready give him one more day. With the off day tomorrow, we thought it was a good day. He's close, working hard and he should be back. He's nothing more than a day-to-day."
On the importance of S Louis Delmas being on the field today: "Anytime we can get Lou on the practice field, it's good work for us. He gives a lift to the defense. He makes a difference out there. He moved well today. But also like you said, communicating with not just (Glover) Quin, but his linebackers and corners, I think that's all important. Like we said in the beginning of camp, we need to balance that with his health and doing too much. There's going to be a fine line there. I thought he had a good day today. He looked good in individual and in the other periods. When he gets out there he's able to do a little bit more."
On changing the way S Amari Spievey tackles and getting his head up: "The new rule with lowering your head, particularly safeties, that rule's going to affect running backs and safeties. Most linebackers, their heads are up because they're in the box and they're seeing. It's not going to be a box call, it's going to be an outside the box call. Number one, it's a safer way to tackle with your head up. You never want to be in a situation where your eyes are down. You won't miss as much if you keep them up. It's good technique. That hasn't just been from this year with him. He has a tendency to go too low sometimes. They make an all-or-nothing tackle, where the safety position relies a little bit more on making a sure tackle rather than making an all-or-nothing play."
On S Glover Quin playing gunner on the kick return: "It's all about the team. If he can help the team and make a difference. We had some well documented special teams concerns early last year. A lot of it had to do with young players out there that were learning on the job. You don't get any curve grades for that stuff. If a guy can help or fits in a role, we certainly spot players like that on special teams. That's not unusual for players to help out on a special team or two."