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: "We had a chance to look at the film and the old adage every week is, ‘You're never as good as you think you are when you win, you're never as bad as you think you are when you lose.' That would hold true in this game as well, but I do think we had a lot of really fine play out of number of individuals. Some of it was quite obvious, such as our defensive line play, our linebackers, our perimeter as well. Obviously, there were some phases that I thought our guys did a nice job of in terms of covering kicks against a team that could run the ball out at you, in terms of the return game, fairly well. Offensively, I do think too that there was a point in time, and it always comes down to that in a ballgame where there's kind of some signature moments, where a unit has an opportunity to either make a stand and make something happen or they get consumed by the moment. In this particular case, I think our offensive line did a tremendous job of really controlling that ballgame. Particularly, when we had to run the ball down the stretch and did a tremendous job against a very physical, tough unit. Green Bay is a very good football team and our guys had their hands full all day long. Obviously, it was quite an afternoon. In regard to Nate Freese, we have released him and we signed Alex Henery. Alex was most recently with Philadelphia. He will be handling our place-kicking duties from here on out. Also, in regard to Stephen Tulloch, Tully did indeed injure his knee and is going to need surgery. He's going to be placed on the IR for the remainder of the year. He had an ACL injury. I know often times, I'm not sure, I hadn't had a chance to discuss it with him in detail, but he's been disappointed. He's one of our real fine team leaders, but obviously, he'll still be around and helping our guys with a little instruction and things of that nature. Young guys have a tendency to heal quickly, so hopefully he'll have a great healing process and will be ready to go for us in the future."

On if he's had a chance to speak with Tulloch and where his spirits are right now: "Not today, I did speak with him yesterday after the game. He's just like anyone else who has a great passion for the game, loves the game, loves to play. As spirited as he is, guys are always going to be a bit disillusioned for a short bit of time. He's also a fighter as well, so I expect him to rehab like he always does everything else, full go. He'll get back soon."

On if the plan going forward is to have LB DeAndre Levy play middle linebacker: "We'll look at all of our options and see what happens. In the next couple of days, we'll have an answer for you."

On how difficult it is to lose Tulloch: "Well, I think obviously anytime that you lose anyone, in particular a guy like that, who has the experience that he has and has played as well as he's played for you, that's a loss there. It's one that, unfortunately in our game, it happens all too often. That's kind of the nature of the sport. It's a very physical game and with it comes some consequences that are sometimes a little difficult to deal with. I think you saw from the number of guys that we had that were playing in roles where they had not been playing previously due to injuries. Guys step up and do the job that they're expected to do. Whomever we put in that spot, the same thing will be expected of them as well. I think you'll see them step forward and play well."

On what the problem was with K Nate Freese: "It's sometimes a difficult thing to put your finger on. In this particular sport, at this particular level, it's difficult. You get heavily scrutinized, the pressure mounts on you as well. He's a guy that's very capable. It's pretty obvious that we thought he was very good at what he does and I still think in the long run, he's not the first guy that's been drafted and released in terms of that particular position, and most of them, when you look at their records and where they've been, have been several different places. At one point in time they sort of get settled in and kick for a long period of time. I think you'll see the same thing happen to him at some point in time because he does have talent. The thing that we looked at was that this guy had talent, he could kick the ball, kicked it well, you don't miss a kick your senior year. There were a lot of positives about him. I still think they're still there, but obviously performance is what counts in this league and that's no matter who you are and no matter what position you play. Whether you're coaching, whether you're playing, or whatever it might be, everybody is evaluated and we're expected to perform accordingly."

On Freese's body language after his missed kicks yesterday and if he's a candidate for the practice squad: "I could not respond to your first assertion about how he looked in terms of being shattered, I'm not certain about that and I would not agree with that. I did have a chance to see him and talk to him as he came up the sideline, but nevertheless, it's rare that you also use a practice squad spot for someone that handles specialist duties. So, I think it'd be rare in our particular case."

On when Tulloch's surgery will be: "Hasn't been determined yet. There's protocol nowadays. They did it a little bit differently back in the old days. It was quickly and nowadays, they do so many different things in terms of being able to let them come back a lot more rapidly. Sometimes the protocol is a little bit different."

On what he liked about Henery: "We had a number of guys come in and had them sort of go through a battery of tests, just in terms of the kicking duties and things of that nature and we felt that he was the best out of the bunch. He was accurate. He was certainly a guy that, not only that, but he was really decisive in terms of his kicks. He was a guy that I think, without question, has experience in the league and is going to be able to do the things that we require him to do."

On dealing with the injuries suffered this season: "I think it's just one of those things. It's never easy to deal with injuries. Let me just make certain you understand that and it's not one of those things where we dismiss them. You're losing guys that have done a lot for your team have put a lot of sweat and energy to getting themselves to this point. Looking forward to playing an entire season things of that nature, so it's tough on those guys. It's tough on their teammates because they work together. They're side by side, it's a brotherhood. They rely on one another, all of those things you build chemistry with, guys that are around each other for an extended period of time, all of those things have a bit of a setback. The fact of the matter is, like I mentioned before, is that's unfortunately that just the way this game is. If you go into a season and think that it's not going to happen to you you're kidding yourself. What you have to be able to do is be able to make certain your team understands it, make certain you address it long before it begins to happen and tell them the protocol you're going to follow when it does indeed happen. I think our guys have a good sense that we expect whomever it is that steps up to take his place and whatever position is expected to perform and perform well."

On where the team is with the nickel back position and the health of S Don Carey: "I'm not certain, we'll wait and see. You can check the injury report and we'll see it toward the end of the week."

On decision to keep former K Nate Freese over K Giorgio Tavecchio when Tavecchio seemed to have the upper hand: "That's in your estimation? Ok, make certain that's clear. Nevertheless, it's a meritocracy. They competed against one another and we think he did the better job."

On the game plan defensive coordinator Teryl Austin had against Green Bay: "First of all, I think they did a tremendous job. The plan, the implementation, the application of it, the players absorbing information and then executing it I think was exceptional. They did a very nice job in tough circumstances. That's a very good football team with obviously a great quarterback. What they did is do what we do best just in terms of our idea of how to go about it trying to get pressure on the quarterback with the front four, just all those basic things that we typically do. I think he would tell you that there had not been anything Earth-shattering in terms of our plan, but the plan in which we did have certainly the guys did follow to a tee. We have to play these guys again, you do know, and we also play other teams coming up as well, so to talk about in detail what we plan for each and every guy, how we go about it, is probably something that you're not going to get from us."  

On being frustrated on the way Tulloch was injured: "It's not certain how that happened first of all. Often times, I think the obvious thing was everybody saw him go up and come down and get up limping afterwards, but a lot times with some of these injuries something happens a couple plays before, but may be at a certain point and time it maybe be affected a little bit more than others and come to the forefront so I'm not absolutely sure on that one. The thing you may be alluding to is whether or not we're going to try to damper the spirit of individuals in terms of how they respond to making a great play. No, it's not going to happen and I think I mentioned this before is that this is an emotional game. This is a game where guys have to grow through quite a bit in order to get accomplished what they are trying to. It's tough often times you're trying to defeat two to three people to get something done. When it does indeed happen, when a guy lays it on the line, gives everything he has, and it's kind of an emotional reaction often times, it's tough to keep that under wraps. I think scoring touchdowns is a little bit different, you know, but we want enthusiasm. We want our coaches to be excited about it, we want our players to be excited about it. Am I going to go with some kind of protocol that says never jump in the air, never do this? You know I'm not going to do that."

On being able to close out games: "I don't think that should go without notice, obviously, because I think that just in terms, particularly in this particular game, I think you saw if you saw the game last night Denver and Seattle. You can see if you put the ball in the hands of a guy who can get down the field and score, Peyton (Manning) scored in 50 seconds went 80 yards. That's the kind of guy you're dealing with and for us to be able to keep the ball out of his (Aaron Rodgers) hands that entire time 6:54 seconds was really a testament to our running backs doing a great job in terms of running the ball. Our offensive line doing a great job of controlling the line of scrimmage, and obviously Joe (Lombardi) did a great job in terms of calling. Matthew (Stafford) did a nice job, all of the blocking on the perimeter, all of those things were key. Golden's (Tate) extra effort just in terms of when we did throw it was a safe pass and he was able to kind of break a tackle and get us some extra yardage. All of those things, guys understanding the situation, you know, understanding exactly what had to be done and then being able to accomplish it was being special."

On assessing the play of the TE's: "(Brandon) Pettigrew had a nice game, really did well in terms of handling the line of scrimmage, and you know there were not a lot of passes to those guys and that's going to happen sometimes. It's going to be games like that. It's not going to be a situation where every ball game you know they may get five targets, 10 targets, whatever it might be. It's not going to happen that way often times. It's often times unpredictable but we do think they'll be a factor here down the line somewhere. They keep getting better, they keep working extremely hard and we'll see what happens." 

On alternating RT Cornelius Lucas and Garrett Reynolds: "Well, we think both of them are worthy of playing, number one. We do think that in doing it that way helps us put ourselves in position to win. That would probably be the short answer to it."

On his concerns with the offense: "I think from a coaching standpoint we're concerned about everything. I'm still concerned about our defense, I'm still concerned about our offense, I'm still concerned about our kicking game. There's not ever going to be a point in time where you're going to find any comfort level with me in that regard. I'm not trying to single out that particular area, so when you state it, just state it that way. I'm concerned about everything. I'm concerned about how well we run the ball. I thought we ran it a little bit better, but you can see our averages aren't quite where we want it. But, we we're 65-percent in terms of our passing which is what you look for, over 62-percent or higher with our formula is the way in which we look at things from advances and things of that nature. There were a lot of good things that are involved in our offense and how we did. But, turnovers would probably be the thing that'd I'd be more concerned with than anything else. The fact of the matter is, when you look at it, we moved the ball but we left six points on the table, at least six and that's if you kick two field goals. I'm more concerned about that than I am about anything else. If we take care of that area and limit our turnovers, the rest of it will take care of itself."

On if there is concern about S James Ihedigbo's injury: "He's been getting better and better. We'll just see how this week goes, he's improving."

On how close RT LaAdrian Waddle is to returning: "He's improving, that's all I can say to you."

On if he is discouraged by the lack of rookie production: "Discouraged is never a word that you're ever going to hear come out of my mouth or ever be associated with me as well because of the fact that I never get discouraged. I always look at the bright side of things and try to make certain that I always display that. Young guys are young guys. There are very few young guys in this league, and you've been around a long time and have covered this team for a long time, that you'll see guys come in often times and make a huge, immediate impact. Otherwise, you'd see five, six, or seven guys on each team doing so, and that's not the case. You see some of them get forced into action because of injury and things of that nature. But, it's a growth process. This is not an easy league, this is the top of the food chain and it's an expertise. To expect a guy to come in from college and set this league on fire, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. It takes time for those guys to develop. So, no I'm not disappointed in that, I understand the realities of it. I know often times a lot of people from the outside and those kinds of things as you're dealing with individuals expect the seed to open up and the rookies to run through and lead the way. We've got a lot of veteran players on this team that do a tremendous job. But, I do think you see some young guys that step in, play and do well. I think you'll continue to see guys that are playing. You see (Cornelius) Lucas is giving a contribution playing for us and I think you'll see a number of things start to happen and develop. Special teams you don't discount either, you take a look at what some of those guys are doing for us in that area. I think that's worth noting."

On CB Mohammed Seisay: "I thought he played well. I thought he was excited about the opportunity and took advantage of it also. He was steady, he made some plays and had some production in the few plays that he was in there. So, we're excited about him and the prospects of the future. I really do think that he's going to be a fine player one day if he keeps developing. Whether or not it was part of the plan, certainly. We worked him there at that position, understood that it could be a possibility and it just so happened that it did in that particular game."

On how tough it will be against the Jets running game without Tulloch: "I think they pose all kinds of problems for us, that's one of them. They do like to run it at you. They will be patient with it. Obviously, us stopping the run is also first and foremost in our mind from a defensive standpoint. We start there and we think that we have a chance to obviously control the situation a little bit better. Anytime that you lose someone of that caliber it's going to be a bit of a concern. But, I'll reiterate once again, whoever steps in there and plays that spot, whether we move a guy into that position or whatever it might be, that young man will be able to step in and do his job. I think you'll see that happen over and over again with this group."