Jim Caldwell's quotes from Wednesday

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

On what he saw in LB Josh Bynes: "Yeah, had a chance to work with him in Baltimore. He's a guy that has a lot of tools, has talent, he can run, got size, and really determined player as well. It made a lot of sense for us because he also has some system familiarity which would help and he can play multiple positions as well.

On Bynes playing ILB or OLB: "He can do both inside and outside."

On LB Tahir Whitehead being listed as the starting MLB instead of moving LB DeAndre Levy: "You can go a number of different ways. Tahir has practiced there and obviously we worked with him there quite extensively and also there a couple things you learn after a few years it can go either way sometimes. Typically if a guy is playing really well you don't necessarily want to move that guy and you want to maybe allow someone else to take the other position. (DeAndre) Levy has been playing extremely well at his normal spot and so if we didn't have to disrupt too much we didn't plan to do so. He still has flexibility, he can still play there, just depends on the team, depends on the circumstances. It may happen this week, it may happen next, you know, but that's the great thing about all those guys. (Ashlee) Palmer as well is a versatile guy and the great thing about those guys is they adapt quickly."

On Levy's ability to cover as a reason to keep him at the OLB position: "Obviously there's a bit more isolated work there and you don't have as many buffers on the outside linebacker position, yet you do have to carry a guy to the flat sometimes to the sideline. On the interior it's a little bit less but still you're stretched and still you're challenged, and with the multiplicity of the passing game these days no matter where you line up in at the linebacker position you're going to get challenged."

On Whitehead continuing to play special teams now that he is moved to MLB: "He's certainly going to be called upon to play. There are very few guys that we have that don't have some part in our special teams, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. He's great to us in that area and if he can't go as much there will be somebody else in there to take his place. That's another great thing about Josh (Bynes), he's a very good special teams player as well."

On what to expect from a Rex Ryan-coached team: "There is no telling what you're going to get, that's the thing about it. Over the years we had an opportunity to work against him when he was in Baltimore and we were in Indy and obviously when I was at Baltimore he was at the Jets, so we've seen one another quite often during that stretch. One thing you do know is that his defense has been one of the best defenses in all of the league year in and year out. When you just look at his record and look at certainly the numbers that the defense puts up it's a real challenge. That's because of the fact that they are multiple. Also, it's a very good scheme. He does a good job putting guys in different positions and the other thing is that they have talent. They have guys that can play the game. (Sheldon) Richardson and (Muhammad) Wilkerson, those guys on the interior make it difficult obviously for you to run or pass."

On how much having a healthy S Glover Quin has helped the defense: "I think anytime that you have an individual with his kind of experience, leadership, talent and integrity it helps. Even this morning we were going through our walkthrough and I could see him dial all in conversation with (Isa) Abdul-Quddus as well as Darius (Slay) and a number of other guys just kind of making certain they're in the right spot. He's like a coach on the field, his presence is invaluable. We have a couple guys like that you know, Dig (James Ihedigbo) obviously has that type of presence whenever he gets back for us and then also you look on the corner and (Rashean) Mathis is one of those guys as well. Anytime that you have a guy that has the kind of leadership and also the presence of mind to play and play well like Glover has I think it's an advantage for you."   

On having the top-rated defense: "Obviously, we played well and I don't want to take anything away from that because the guys have earned that. The fact of the matter is every week is a brand new challenge and they're going to be challenged again this week and we'll see how we do. I know one thing our guys are up for it. I doubt that they pay very much attention to the statistical part of it. The most important thing for us is whether or not it's a W or an L. That's really what counts."

On why the offense hasn't scored more points: "I just think just like I mentioned the other day I think one of the things that you'd see is it'll look a little bit different to you if you don't turn the ball over. We turned the ball over in the last couple games which took away drives. The great thing about the fact, having coached for a little while, I've been a part of some high flying offenses. I remember in 2009 we were in Indy and we played San Francisco and the score was 10-9. I think it was the final score and Joseph Addai threw the touchdown pass. That's one of the all-time great units in terms of individuals. It happens, we played Cleveland that same year and it might have been 10-9. You think we panicked? Do you think that we lost faith in what we were doing? No and that's the exact same way I feel now. We played some pretty good defenses to now. Carolina is pretty good, Green Bay is pretty good and we're facing a really good one this week as well. But like I said I think you'd look at it a little bit differently if we didn't turn the ball over as much."  

On how important it is for players to be ready to play who are on the practice squad: "Yeah, and I think one big bonus is the fact that the league gave us a couple more guys to work with, I think that's invaluable. Really, the purpose of the practice squad is that it's developmental. It's to give a guy a chance to still be around the system, get a sense of it and a sense of how you're doing things. We get a chance to evaluate them daily. Every single guy on our practice field gets evaluated every single day even if he's providing a look for the team. Therefore, it comes to decisions as to whether or not we move a guy up or find a guy that may be outside of the program at this point in time. We weigh and measure that. Hopefully things happen like they happened with (Mohammed) Seisay. He's a guy that we have been working with all spring long, he's got a feel for it, he's improved and we can see it. We all feel good about him and he was able to get in there and certainly demonstrate that he could operate in that realm as well."

On if S James Ihedigbo will still be the starter when he comes back from injury: "We'll wait and see when he gets back, then we'll see how that goes."

On if he has raised the bar on expectations for QB Matthew Stafford based on league-wide success of completion percentage over 62-percent: "No, because of the fact that it's early. I think I mentioned to you before, typically, about four games is where things start to sort of settle down from a statistical standpoint and everybody starts to look at themselves, look at self-scout and all of those things start to settle in. Not only that, I think by that time you've looked at a cross section of teams or conference play I should say, and divisional play. Now, you can kind of get an idea, up to this point, you don't know. But after this week's over I think we'll have a pretty good idea of where we are. If we have to make a mid-stream adjustment, fine, but historically that's been a pretty good number. It's above 62-percent, didn't have to tell me it had to be 62, it could be 70 if he'd like to."

On why the differential in records seems so dramatic at this point in the season: "It's just kind of the way it's been, which is kind of your marker, more or less. Typically, by that time you can get a good feel for what you're doing. You don't always know exactly, because there have been some great turnarounds, but I think you do have an idea in terms of what your strengths and weaknesses are and therefore, people can attack them a little bit more from a schematic standpoint. But then also, you can bolster them up as well on your end of it from maybe, mitigating liabilities."

On if he has a feel for this team at this point, regardless of the record: "Yes, because sometimes you can see things that no one else can see. You're out there at practice every day. I've been in situations where, maybe our record might not have been where we wanted to but you could see the guys were coming. You could see in practice that they were preparing extremely well, you could see that in meeting rooms they were grasping the information well, and perhaps maybe they just weren't able to kind of, battle their way through some tough losses and you may be 1-3, or 0-3, but yet you know you have a pretty good squad coming. You can see some of those things start to develop. But from a coaching standpoint, at that point in time you have a pretty good idea."

On what he can see with these players that were missing in the past: "I'm not certain we've been negative or positive on them. It's not like we're 0-3 or anything of that nature. Around here, too, the way in which you've dealt with things here over in the past and the things you've been accustomed to, you might look at us a little bit differently than what we are. But, I can tell you it's a resilient group, it's a tough group and a group that you're going to see that's going to be right in there fighting each and every week. It may not be pretty, we're not worried about pretty, we're worried about the results. I think our guys are buying into that. What we try to do is create a compelling vision for them and give them a significant amount of information in terms of our plan and how it's going to be implemented and then just relentless implementation of it. It's just a fight every single day to get them thinking the way in which we should be thinking. So, that's always going to be a big battle. And more so than anything else, more of your issues come from inside than outside. I think right now our guys have a pretty good feel for who they are on the inside here within the organization and I think hopefully, that comes through here next week."

On if he can confirm that they worked out K Rob Bironas, and his thoughts on Bironas' passing: "The answer would be, yes we did. I am without question, certainly feel saddened by his loss. Certainly, my condolences to his wife. It's just a tragic situation. He was a young man who I admired quite often because we competed against him when I was at Indy (Indianapolis Colts). Matter of fact, he and I were kind of chuckling about the fact that he kicked a 61-yard field goal against us and into a decent wind, which was absolutely incredible, to beat us down there. It was during a time where, within that division, we didn't get beat too often. But, he was certainly a part of that so, we talked a bit. That's the thing too, it gives you a little different perspective. Unlike you, a guy like me who has lived over half of his life at this point in time, it certainly makes you look at things and take other things into account and what's really important. It's a sobering reality."