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HOT TOPIC
The Lions know who their linebackers will be for the 2006 NFL season; they're just not exactly sure where they will be.
Barring any major shakeups, the three starters will be chosen from a group of four -- three veterans and Ernie Sims, their first-round pick in the April draft. But there is at least a strong possibility that all of the veterans will be playing a position different than they played last season.
The three veterans involved in the shakeup are Boss Bailey, the former strong-side linebacker now being projected to move to the middle; Teddy Lehman, who played on the strong side as a rookie, trained in the middle behind Earl Holmes and is now being considered as a strong-side contender; and James Davis, who has been a starter at the weak side but now could find himself competing for the strong-side job.
Sims is considered a perfect fit for the weak-side position but he will have to win the confidence of coach Rod Marinelli and defensive coordinator Donnie Henderson before he gets the job.
Bailey will probably face the biggest adjustment of all the linebackers, considering he has never played in the middle and is coming off foot surgery that kept him out of all the off-season workouts.
That has not damped his enthusiasm for taking a shot at the new position, however.
"It's very interesting," Bailey said. "It's a new challenge for me. I played outside pretty much my whole career and in college, so it's a new challenge for me. I'm confident I can get it done because while I was playing outside I always made sure I learned all the positions."
The linebacker realignment is being necessitated by Henderson's style of defense, which puts a premium on fast, athletic linebackers capable of running down plays from sideline to sideline. And the middle linebacker job came open when the Lions decided not to pursue Holmes when he became a free agent.
"The way they're trying to coach it, the schemes they're trying to run, it's only fitting for a guy like me to be in the middle," said Bailey. "Because of the speed, the quickness and the scheme, where we're going to try to run cover 2 a lot and make things bounce outside more."
It remains to be seen if Bailey will be fully ready to return to work when the Lions open training camp on July 27, but he has done all he could to learn the job in meetings.
"Mentally, I'm doing everything and more, doing extra stuff mentally because I can't do everything physically," he said, "but I'm in the meetings and rehabbing and working out."
PLAYER NOTES
--The Lions' running game is certain to come under close scrutiny when the team opens training camp in late July. They ranked 26th in the NFL last season with Kevin Jones, Shawn Bryson and Artose Pinner sharing the workload in a drab, ineffective West Coast offense.
Jones, Bryson and Pinner all are back for 2006, along with free agent acquisition Arlen Harris and third-round draft pick Brian Calhoun from Wisconsin. Although coach Rod Marinelli isn't bestowing any starting jobs, it is expected that Jones, a former first-round pick, could benefit greatly from offensive coordinator Mike Martz's insistence on a strong running game.
"It's like I've always said since I've been here, we've got to ride (Jones') coattails," said wide receiver Roy Williams. "We've got to be able to run the football in this league. If we can't do that, we'll be at the bottom of the barrel like we have been the last three years.
"We've got to be able to run the football (and) he's the man to do it. Calhoun can come in and get his little shake on in there and our running game will be at the top of the league."
Marinelli isn't promising the top running game in the NFL but he says he likes what he has seen from Jones in the off-season workouts, especially in becoming a more complete back, capable of catching the ball out of the backfield.
"He's catching the ball well, better," Marinelli said. "And he's worked hard at it. He's caught a million balls. I think he's really done a nice job."
--It's been awhile since the Lions had a strong identity - either offensive or defensive - and coach Rod Marinelli says he doesn't mind keeping it that way a while longer.
While admitting the players have reason to be enthused about the possibilities being developed by offensive coordinator Mike Martz, Marinelli wants the team concept to overshadow anything else.
"The thing I keep trying to allude to, I think, is 'Lions football,'" he said. "This is Lions football and every time I get into a team setting, I think it's really important (that) we're not an offense, we're not a defense, we're not a special teams and we understand it's 'Lions football.' And each unit has the opportunity to impact Lions football."
Except for occasional brief glimmers, the West Coast offense never gained any traction in the past five seasons under Marty Mornhinweg or Steve Mariucci, and the players were clearly ready for a change with Marinelli was hired last January.
Although Martz is demanding as he installs the new offense, it has caught the players' attention and imagination during off-season workouts.
"What the offense is doing right now with the energy of coach Martz and the offensive staff ... the team can see it," Marinelli said. "We've got to do it; the basis, the movement, the patterns, the speed, the energy out there, I really like the progress (and) the steps we're taking to be a really good offense. It's got a chance to really energize our team, yes."
--As much as the Lions players might be enjoying the six-week break since the end of OTAs, many of them say they're looking forward to the start of training camp July 27.
"I really do," said receiver Roy Williams. "I'm really excited about this football team. We have (Mike) Martz on the offensive side, we have coach (Donnie) Henderson on the other side.
"These are two of the 'head coaches' coaching around this league and as long as we do what they tell us to do, I don't think there's any stopping this football team."
It's been awhile since that kind of enthusiasm existed in a Lions camp, especially when the coordinator was as demanding as Martz has been in developing the offense during the off-season program.
"It's exciting because this offense exploits the positives that people have," quarterback Jon Kitna said. "You've seen this offense over the years, (Martz) has come here, the strides we've made have been great but there's no need to make predictions.
"We have to go out and do it ... week in and week out. It can't be a sometimes thing, it can't be two quarters. His offense is predicated on everybody doing their job on every single play or else it's going to break down. We're going to have to keep working."
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Although the Lions starting offensive and defensive lineups seem fairly well set, coach Rod Marinelli says the jobs were won or lost during the off-season workouts.
"We're getting a pretty good feel right now with them but the key is to get into the pads," he said. "I think it's going to happen pretty quickly ... but it can change pretty quickly also. It's a process.
"The worst thing you can do in the off-season work is to start making decisions mentally and you disallow a man to make the progress because you've already mentally put him as a backup. So I try not to do that. Some of these players are going to look different in pads. Some will be better, some will be worse."
In particular, Marinelli will have to settle on a starting left guard, right tackle and the pecking order for the receivers, including first-round picks Roy Williams, Charles Rogers and Mike Williams.
It is expected the Lions will have to cut four or five players before the start of training camp.
FRANCHISE PLAYER: OT Jeff Backus (re-signed tendered worth $6.983M).
TRANSITION PLAYER: None.
UNRESTRICTED FREE AGENTS
--LB Matt Grootegoed (not tendered as ERFA).
--LB Earl Holmes (not tendered June 1).
--WR Kevin Johnson (not tendered June 1).
--S Scott McGarrahan (not tendered June 1).
--S Bracy Walker (not tendered June 1).
RESTRICTED FREE AGENTS: None.
EXCLUSIVE RIGHTS FREE AGENTS
--WR Glenn Martinez spent most of the 2005 season on the practice squad but was active for five games, made one catch for 11 yards. Likely to be re-signed.
--TE Sean McHugh played three games late in the season after TE Casey FitzSimmons suffered a concussion and had no catches.
PLAYERS RE-SIGNED
--OT Jeff Backus: Franchise FA; $6.983M/1 yr).
--RB Shawn Bryson: Potential UFA; $4.5M/3 yrs, $1.5M SB.
--LB James Davis: RFA; $721,600/1 yr.
--DE Jared DeVries: UFA; 5 yrs, terms unknown.
--WR/KR Eddie Drummond: UFA; $6M/4 yrs, $2M SB; 2006 cap: $985,000.
--DE Kalimba Edwards: UFA; $20M/5 yrs, $8M guaranteed.
--TE Casey FitzSimmons: RFA; $721,600/1 yr.
--C Brock Gutierrez: UFA; terms unknown.
--S Terrence Holt: RFA; terms unknown, had been tendered at $721,600.
--LS Don Muhlbach: ERFA; terms unknown.
--RB Artose Pinner: ERFA; terms unknown.
--DE Cory Redding: RFA; $1.573M/1 yr.
--LB LeVar Woods: UFA; 1 yr, terms unknown.
PLAYERS ACQUIRED
--S Idrees Bashir: UFA Panthers; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--WR Corey Bradford: UFA Texans; $7.4M/4 yrs, $2M SB.
--TE Dan Campbell: UFA Cowboys; 5 yrs, terms unknown.
--CB Jamar Fletcher: UFA Chargers; terms unknown.
--WR Mike Furrey: Not tendered as RFA by Rams; $540,000/1 yr, $40,000 SB; 2006 cap: $465,000.
--RB Arlen Harris: Not tendered as RFA by Rams; $500,000/1 yr.
--OG Tyrone Hopson: FA; terms unknown.
--DE Tyoka Jackson: UFA Rams; 2 yrs, terms unknown.
--QB Jon Kitna: UFA Bengals; $11.5M/4 yrs, $3.5M SB.
--LB Paris Lenon: UFA Packers; 3 yrs, terms unknown.
--QB Josh McCown: UFA Cardinals; $6M/2 yrs, $2M SB.
--OT Barry Stokes: UFA Falcons; 3 yrs, terms unknown.
--OL Rex Tucker: UFA Rams; $3.65M/3 yrs, $1M SB.
--OL Courtney VanBuren (not tendered as RFA by Chargers; terms unknown).
PLAYERS LOST
--WR Troy Edwards: UFA Jaguars; terms unknown.
--QB Jeff Garcia: UFA Eagles; 1 yr, terms unknown.
--CB Andre Goodman: UFA Dolphins; $5M/3 yrs, terms unknown.
--QB Joey Harrington: Traded Dolphins.
--OG Kyle Kosier: UFA Cowboys; $15M/5 yrs, $5M SB.
--OG David Loverne (released).
--CB R.W. McQuarters: UFA Giants; $6M/3 yrs, $2M SB.
--LB Wali Rainer: UFA Texans; terms unknown.
--FB Paul Smith: UFA Rams; terms unknown.
--LB Nate Wayne (released).
--DT Dan Wilkinson (released).
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