Jim Caldwell's quotes from Monday

Below is a look at what Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell had to say on Monday. (Quotes provided by the Lions.)

Opening statement: "I had a chance to look at the film and review it on the airplane, working our way back on the bus and it didn't look any different than what we thought.  We didn't play well in any phase, got to find a way to get better and get better in a hurry with a tough Chicago Bears team that we're about to face, who's won two games in a row. They're on a bit of a roll so we have to get ourselves ready."

On C Dominic Raiola's actions: "He and I talked, we addressed the issue. What we talked about is a private matter but he knows how we like to do things around here and that's the end of story."

On if the team will do anything in-house: "No."

On DT C.J. Mosley's actions: "It was flagged and it was flagged appropriately. Penalties are obviously something we've been harping on and we just can't have an excess of penalties. Anything we can avoid and things like that are things that we want to stay away from."

On if their actions are because of frustration: "I'm not attributing them to anything. I'm just telling you what we want, what we don't want, what's acceptable for us and what's not acceptable, plain and simple. Getting into the thought process of an individual is not my concern."

On if he believes his message of discipline is getting lost: "I'm not worried at all in that regard. I know it's something that in particular, when you're dealing with a place that you haven't been before, it's a constant battle every single day, every single moment. That's not anything unusual. I think most of the time that our guys are guys that listen. Every once in a while you run into a guy that's not swayed by either threats or eloquence. If that's the case, you have to get rid of him. But nevertheless, we don't have guys like that. Our guys just keep striving to do what we want to get done."

On how he feels about the Patriots scoring the late touchdown: "We have to stop them, that's our business. That's our job to get it stopped."

On if he would have let the clock run out if the Patriots would have taken a knee: "I know you guys can sense when coaches get frustrated with certain questions. What they do is up to them, that's their business. What we do is up to us. It's our job to stop them and keep them out of the end zone. Plain and simple, that's it. End of story. We didn't do our job."

On the increasing amount of drops the last couple weeks: "It's something we have to keep working on, which we've been trying to highlight the fact that how to limit them or get rid of them is by working at it. Just like anything else that we do, we have to keep preaching it, keep working at it, keep concentrating on it and we had a few of those. Those are the things that stop drives and they certainly did stop some drives for us and kept us away from getting a couple scores which kind of skews the game a little bit. We continue to work on them, continue to get better and try to find a way."

On what explanation Mosley gave him about his penalty: "I haven't talked to Mosley about that. That's a penalty, it was called and we'll address that when we get an opportunity to meet with the team."

On saying there needs to be changes made: "That didn't come out of my mouth, I don't think. I didn't say that, that I said ‘There needs to be changes.' No, I said we need to improve, you better check your notes. Somebody else might have said that and somebody must have tried to insert it into my words but if I felt we need changes, we'll make changes. I said we're not going to make any rash decisions, we'll take a look at things and make adjustments accordingly."

On if the team will make any changes on offense, having looked at yesterday's film: "We're still in that process. Every single game it's a little bit different because you're dealing with injuries, guys that are there, not there. You've got to kind of work your way around that as well, but nevertheless, if there are some that we think need changing, we'll change them."

On if he has any long-term concerns with T Riley Reiff: "Not quite certain yet. We'll kind of see how it goes here in the next couple of days."

On how tough it would be to get a veteran up to speed if Reiff can't play: "We do have options, obviously. We'll find a way to get it done. We have some guys on our squad that we think are capable of making some adjustments for."

On the difficulty of moving T LaAdrian Waddle to the left side of the line and getting someone else ready for the right side: "One of the things that's unique about that group of guys is they're pretty flexible. They can play both sides. I think you've seen (Cornelius) Lucas go both ways as well. L.A. (Waddle) is a bit more of a veteran player, so guys work inside, outside. They work in unison together quite often, so the change is not as drastic as you might think."

On if Raiola could miss Thursday's game: "Game to game, it's always different. There's always issues and things you've got to manage and handle. If that does arise, we'll find a way to get around it. Find a way to work."

On what the League would be looking into concerning Raiola's actions on Sunday: "I'm not certain of it in the fact of the legality of the matter."

On if Waddle could play left tackle and if he's willing to explore it: "If we did, I wouldn't tell you obviously because of the fact that they get a chance to plan and look at some things. I talked to you guys about that before. Some of the things you guys ask in terms of questions or things that I don't necessarily want to talk about because I just think it gives the opposition a little bit of an unfair advantage. Great for you, poor for us."

On his process during a short week: "There's a lot things that go into it prior to this day. You have to look ahead a bit sometimes in terms of your preparation. You have to do some things that kind of compensate for your short amount of time. You usually spend quite a bit of time slow cooking the game plan and in a short week you don't have that kind of time. So, you have to adjust, but when those wheels hit the ground yesterday, we're on to the next one."

On QB Matthew Stafford's performance after watching the tape from yesterday's game: "I'll say it over and over again, the difficult part is, the position in which he plays, he gets undue criticism. Things that are out of his control and then there are other things, obviously, that maybe he didn't do as well as we'd like. I know one thing, I know he's a fighter. He's does what we ask him to do, he works at it and he'll try to keep improving."

On if the offense can function without adequate play from the offensive line: "Well, I think that goes for any position, to be honest with you. That's kind of the apex of your offense. It's your first line of offense, just in terms of the guys up front. Obviously, that's a key and important spot, but I think they all are equally as important. I think we've got to have quality play in all positions in order to get us to where we need to go."

On if he becomes more critical of the team and if the message to the team changes at all when reaching this point in the season: "No more critical than any one of our games that we've faced to this point. We've still got all of our goals ahead of us, they're out in front of us. All we have to do is worry about one game, just one ballgame and that's it. And that's what we'll do, we'll focus in on that game, get ourselves ready to go because this team is playing well, so we better get ready to go. It's that time of year."

On not getting any sacks the past two weeks: "I think it changes week to week. I think sometimes pressure applies just as much as anything else in terms of sacks. Sometimes we're applying pressure but it may not be quite as noticeable and getting hits on the quarterback. It doesn't mean it's a sack but it still takes a toll and I think all things add up. Obviously we think we'll be better in that area, get a little bit more pressure, but if teams are getting it out, three step drops, and things of that nature it's difficult to get to. If you can keep them doing that all day long, we just got to make certain we tackle well, keep them in front of us, and make them go the long haul."

On if WR Calvin Johnson is at the same speed he was at during training camp: "We haven't taken him out and timed him in the 40 or anything of that nature. He can still get behind people, he can still make the kind of catches he's accustomed to making, and he can still run away from folks. That's probably what counts."

On how important this next game is: "It's important and really important because it's the next one. I think it's a little bit different too when you have to look at a situation if you need somebody else's help, all those things change. We don't need anybody's help right now, it's still we can control our own destiny, and that's a good thing."

On what types of challenges playing on a short week presents: "Sometimes it's better that way. I just think it helps you de-crystalize things a lot faster, you don't have nearly as much time, and you're also really mindful of the health of your team when you don't have a full week. I think sometimes that can be helpful."

On what he liked about Stafford's performance: "The position in which he plays there are always some ups and downs and there are peaks and valleys. He placed some balls very well, I think. He did some things that were pretty pinpoint passes that he didn't have an opportunity to get credit for, for one reason or another. I think those are the things you have to be able to look at, at that spot. He gets you into the right running plays, he makes the checks that you need, he balances out the time period in and out of the huddle, and he manages those things well. Like I said the big thing that you have to understand is that this is a team effort. The offense has to play well, the defense has to play well, and our kicking game has to play well. That's what we're interested in more than anything else. Does the team get its mission accomplished? We did not, the team failed in that regard, so we're finished with that one and on to the next one." 

On currently not being in the playoffs: "There are not a whole lot of teams in it, right? Is that correct? There are not a whole lot of teams in it right now are there? All we have to do is worry about this next game, that's all we have to do. We don't worry about anything else."