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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 the tossing of the headset: "Does there have to be something behind it? If I stand there like this (hand folded across his chest), I would probably get criticized for being too detached and not being emotionally involved in the game. Guess what? I'm emotionally involved in the game. It's a tough week. It's a tough game. It's hard to win in the National Football League. There were a lot of things that came up in that game. There were well documented issues with the printers. It wasn't just offense. It was offense, defense and special teams. We had injuries in the game. There were a lot of things that we needed to persevere through and things like that. It was the end of a tough week and it was a tough road win. Honestly, I don't make any apologies."
On the technical problems on the sidelines: "We never found out what was wrong. They didn't work the entire game. Like I said, we were flying blind offense, defense and special teams. Gun's (Gunther Cunningham) up in the box and he was working hard up there to try to figure out what adjustments we needed to make. Scott (Linehan) was on the sideline working with the guys upstairs figuring out what adjustments we needed to make. Everybody had to really pull double duty and really get to the bottom. We talked about how they had run schemes that they had only sprinkled in before. They really went to work, for the most part in this game, starting with an all-out blitz on the first play of the game. Offensively, they did some of the same things. They had some wrinkles to their option game that they hadn't really used before, which we needed to make adjustments to. I give credit to our coaches for being able to make those adjustments even without having those pictures, which are so critical during the game."
On QB Matthew Stafford's ability to adjust on the fly without the use of the pictures: "Matt's a smart guy and Scott's smart. They were able to figure out, I mean we had a lot rushers just by design. Matt did a great job. They blitzed an awful lot. They crowded the middle of the field. I thought Matt played an outstanding game. His completion percentage wasn't as high as it's going to be when it's a zone game, but under pressure, man, we were 8.8 yards per pass play. That's very very high. We made a lot of explosions, I can't remember how many explosive passes and things like that, in the game. That's sort of what you have to do against that style defense. It's not going to be efficient plays on every single one and high percentage completions. It's going to be big plays. Your ability to beat that defense is going to be contingent on your ability to make big plays. We were able to make those because Matt played outstanding football."
On RB Joique Bell: "I thought Joique played an outstanding game also. I thought he set the tempo on our first scoring drive. He caught the ball well out of the back field. There was one where they blitzed and Matt had to get it over the top of, I think it was (Brian) Orakpo it might have been (Ryan) Kerrigan, but he had to get it over top and he lead him a little bit too much. It was a difficult play, but I thought, particularly the way he finished, I think it was a 12-yard run for a touchdown, bouncing off tacklers, physical running, that made a statement at the end of that drive. There weren't any easy run fronts the entire game. He had to blow out, blow ahead I should say. I thought he did a great job of it. He was good in pass protection. I thought he picked it up and played very well. Whenever he has been given the chance, Joique has."
On Bell's success: "Some of that is the way he started. He was an undrafted player. I don't know what happened before that. All I know is what he's done here. He has steadily improved. He carved out a role on special teams. He played well there. He's played well every time we have given him a chance. I think probably the biggest thing he has also done is secured the football. In the past, that had been an issue with him. In this game, there was a lot of physical running inside and things like that and he was very very secure with the football. I think that's an important part of his improvement also."
On if Bell has done anything over the course of the last few years to improve as a player: "He has. Our coaches have worked with him on it. He has also made a commitment in all parts of his game to improve. Special teams, catching the ball, running, and blocking. It's been an impressive thing to watch."
On if there is a role for RB Mikel Leshoure: "In this game, Joique was handling that load and Theo (Riddick) was handling some of the pass stuff that we ran. It just never came up for him to have an opportunity to get on the field. If Joique had to come out for a portion of the time, he would have filled the same role that Joique had filled. It just never came up in the game. I said this earlier this week, we have a lot of confidence in Mikel. When he plays, he'll play well. We don't have any question about that. He's working extremely hard, but we only have one running back on the field at a particular time and that was just the way the game went."
On RB Reggie Bush not playing: "We're going to make the decision for the 46 that we think gives us the best chance to win that game. That was the decision that I made. That's all that needs to be said. Every player is game to play. I don't think I have ever had a player that said, ‘Hey coach. I can't go today.' Everybody wants to play. You have to use your digression to figure out what's going to be best for the team. That's our guiding principle, what's best for the team. What's best for an individual isn't always the best for the team. What's best for the team isn't always best for an individual. You've got to try to make the best decisions that you can. Reggie worked extremely hard to get ready for that game. When you're a running back, you can't control hits and how people are attacking you and getting rolled up in the pile. He's an important part of our team for sure. I appreciate how hard he worked, but we needed to go a different direction in this game. There was absolutely nothing confrontational about it. We had talked to him all week long leading up to it. We talked to him Saturday night. We talked to him on game day. I told him from the very beginning how it could go each way. If you're thinking that that's some sort of point of contention or anything else, I think you're way off base right there."
On if he is anticipating RB Reggie Bush to play on Sunday: "We'll see. He is no different than a lot of other players. We lost Jason Jones for the year in this game, we have a lot of other bumps and bruises. Nothing that appears to be anything more than short-term. We will have issues getting guys on the practice field this week. When it comes to Sunday we will try to do, just like we did with all our players, make the best decision for 46 guys that can execute the game plan and put us in the best position to win."
On if RB Joique Bell's performance gives him confidence in resting Bush: "Every player is independent. We want as many good players on the field as we can possibly get. It is always good to have as many good players as you can but if Reggie's health was what we thought was able to contribute and be productive in the role we wanted him to be in, he would have been out there regardless of the confidence we have in Mikel (Leshoure) or Joique or Theo (Riddick)."
On how to replace DE Jason Jones: "We have a lot of different ways. I think I even said yesterday, we are going to lean on DE Devin Taylor there. Devin has a lot of the same things that we liked about Jason. He played well at times in the preseason but he needs to grow up quickly. That's no different than anyone else, being a young player in the league, you have to perform. "
On DE Ezekiel Ansah's progression this season: "He makes plays whenever he goes in the game. I don't know if it's a progression to tell you the truth. I mean he learns something new every week, he practices well, his technique continues to improve but he just has that knack for being able to make a play on the field. This game was no different."
On DE Willie Young's play this season: "I thought he did some good things. Just like Ziggy, just like all of our other players, there are some things he needs to be more consistent on. I thought he did a good job on the run front. He rushed very well in the game against a really good left tackle in Trent Williams. Most of his rush came over on Trent Williams side. He made his impact felt, he is on the right path."
On the importance of being in first place four weeks into the season: "It's too early to be thinking about stuff like that. We just came off a tough road win, an NFC team. Next game is a NFC North team at home and all those games are important. It is important for us to get back home after being on the road for a couple weeks. You can't worry about standings this time of year. All you have to worry about is improving, correcting your mistakes, finding out what you're good at, those kinds of things and continuing to progress. I talked about how the Redskins last year were 3-6 and then turned around and won seven in a row. Minnesota was 6-6 and won four in a row. It's not always about how you start. You can certainly help yourself with a good start but there is plenty of time to worry about standings and who's in first place later in the year. We need to improve in a lot of areas and the urgency is there for everybody to improve and to get the next win."
On if the game with Chicago Bears will be a test to see where they are as a team: "They all are. They are all games that we are trying to win. Getting tested doesn't come into our equation. However we get a win is our only objective. We are not trying to measure ourselves against anybody else. We are not trying to lead the league in any particular stat. We are trying to go do whatever we can to win that game. It sounds boring but that's what we do."
On the opportunity to win at home vs. the Bears and gain separation from the other teams in the NFC North division: "That would be the same in Week 9, that would be the same in Week 2. They're all great opportunities. I'm certainly not downplaying the importance of any game, but we treat them all with respect. We want to win every single one. I talk about NFC games, because when you do get to the end of the year, that's one of the tiebreakers. I think I've been very candid about how I feel about some things that don't have anything to do with tiebreakers. NFC North games mean an awful lot, because number one, it's a chance for you to win a game, but number two it's a chance to put a loss on one of your opponents without having somebody else have to help you do it. They're certainly important. I'm not up here to tell you it's not."
On his impression of the undefeated Bears and their +5 turnover ratio in their win in Pittsburgh: "I didn't watch very much of that game and I haven't spent a lot of time reviewing them. We're just now wrapping up the Redskins game and trying to improve on things that we need to improve on, trying to correct some mistakes. We'll sort of put a game plan together over the next couple days and we'll get a good look at the Bears. But we know a lot of their personnel real well, obviously a new head coach and a different offensive scheme, some similarities defensively. But we know a lot of their personnel - (Jay) Cutler and (Matt) Forté and (Brandon) Marshall and Julius Peppers and (Lance) Briggs. They're some big-time players. Like I said last week, guys like (Brian) Orakpo and (Ryan) Kerrigan - those guys can wreck your game and the Bears have some similar guys. I thought probably one thing in this Redskins game that went a little under the radar was the job that Riley Reiff and Corey Hilliard did on their two outside pass rushers. We took one sack in the game and that was on the first play and that was an inside blitz from the mike (middle) linebacker. I thought that Riley played an outstanding game and so did Corey. And they had to do it against two big-time players. Players that had given every team they've played trouble. And that had a lot to do with our ability to find Nate Burleson down the field, to find Calvin Johnson, to find Kris Durham. A lot of those big plays were made because we were able to have just enough time to find those guys."
On what WR Kris Durham has added on special teams and on offense: "He has played on special teams. We have a lot of young guys playing on special teams, particularly on our return units. We need to play better in our return units. Our coverage units have been better, but our return units need to improve. We've had too many mistakes and too many penalties. But Kris had found a role on those and he's made big catches in games. His catch that kept that drive alive was a big chunk of yards. A lot was made of the fourth-down play and then the touchdown to Calvin (Johnson), but that's really not possible without Durham's catch in that game. He didn't have a lot of targets or a lot of catches. I think that might have even been his only one, but it was a big one and it was key in the game. Even going back to Minnesota, we got contributions from a lot of different guys in Minnesota, and I think you saw some of the same things in this game. Ryan Broyles stepped up and contributed, we talked about Durham, Nate Burleson had an outstanding game. We got contributions out of Joique (Bell) and (Theo) Riddick, (Tony) Scheffler made a big first-down conversion. Joe (Fauria) had a touchdown catch. He was a red zone weapon for us. I think that's when we play our best is when we can get contributions from a lot of different guys."
On how WR Ryan Broyles responded to playing: "Every time he's gone in the game for us, he's made plays. He did the same thing in this game. I think he played 17 or 18 plays in this game, which we had talked about, was sort of a good pitch count for him. It's hard to keep a guy on a pitch count when you're only with 46 (players). It's a lot easier in a preseason game when you can control the reps. Not only was he able to do that, but he was able to come back in the second half and also play for us. Every day he gets a little bit better and every day he gets a little more into the groove physically and mentally and things like that. It's a long road back. A lot was made of their quarterback and his recovery from an ACL (injury), but Ryan's no different and he's still working his way back."