Mayhew: We plan to be aggressively looking to do some trades this year

Lions general manager Martin Mayhew doesn’t do a lot of interviews with the media, but he took time Wednesday to talk with the “2 Live Stews” on sports radio 790 in Atlanta.

Hosts Doug Stewart and Ryan Stewart (get the name of the show) touched on a number of subjects, including Mayhew’s hiring of coach Jim Schwartz in 2009, defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, quarterback Matthew Stafford and how Mayhew was able to transform an 0-16 team into a playoff team in three seasons.

Here are some excerpts:

On the hiring of Schwartz:

“We talked to a lot of people and I had been here for a lot of years and through several coaches so I had probably sat in on 20-plus coaching interviews,” Mayhew said. “Jim was one of the the most impressive guys that we ever met with. He had a tremendous wealth of experience as a defensive football coach starting off as a quality control guy and then becoming a linebacker coach and becoming a coordinator working with Jeff Fisher for a long time.

“Prior to that he had experience in personnel working with Bill Belichick. He had a lot of experience in the NFL but yet he was still a relatively a young guy. He had great positive energy, a wealth of experience and had been through a lot. He had been with Tennessee when they were a great team in the Super Bowl and had also been with them when they got decimated by the salary cap situation and ended up with not quite as good a record. He’s been through good years and bad years and good times and bad times.”

On Suh:

“Early on (in the season) he had a couple borderline plays and looking back on it probably not enough people talked to him in those situations,” Mayhew said. “Then when this thing happened (stomping incident on Thanksgiving), probably too many people talked to him. The guy driving the bus to the games had an opinion on what Ndamukong needed to do. I got letters from every sports psychologist and councilor in the Metro Detroit area. He had so much input it was probably too much. But Ndamukong is a very intelligent person and intelligent football player who has a really solid foundation with great family and great network of support around him and he’s come through this thing. He came back with a great attitude and played great down the stretch and we’re going to put this behind him and move forward next year.”

On Stafford:

“The state of Georgia has been very good to us with Matthew Stafford (Georgia) and Calvin Johnson (Georgia Tech),” he said. “I think Matthew has stepped up into the upper echelon and is one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL. I think he showed that down the stretch. To play Oakland and be down and have to drive 90-some yards to win it, he made those plays; to go touchdown-for-touchdown with the Packers and just run out of time in that game; then to play like he did on the road against the Saints (in) the playoff game. He’s an outstanding player. Nobody in this building ever doubted his abilities or his ability to stay healthy.”

On the 19 trades for players and draft picks in his first 31 months on the job:

“We were 0-16. I remember I was in a press conference after our first draft and one of the reporters said, ‘Man, you guys are being really aggressive,’ and I said, ‘Well, we were 0-16, we can’t stand pat,’” Mayhew said.

“We had the opportunity to upgrade ourselves. We had a corps of players from those 2000’s drafts who sort of disappeared on us. So, we had a chance to go out and get Tony Scheffler in a trade, Rob Sims in a trade, Corey Williams, Chris Houston and we kind of replaced that nucleus of players that we didn’t have.

“It wasn’t a tough decision to draft Matthew Stafford or to draft Ndamukong Suh. We really believe in using every avenue to improve whether its trades, waiver claims, free agency, the draft and we’re not just focused on one avenue to go out and try to sign players. We use everything that’s available to us and the trades sort of just happened. We haven’t done any in a while but we plan to be aggressively looking to do some trades this year.”

Building depth on defense a point of emphasis for Schwartz

Injuries are a part of life in the NFL.

Teams who are able to overcome them with good depth on the roster are usually the ones left standing in the end.

The Lions were hit hard by injuries on defense and it certainly affected them toward the end of the season.

Heading into the Thanksgiving game against the Packers in Week 11, the Lions ranked 9th in total defense, 27^th against the run and 5th against the pass.

They lost safety Louis Delmas and corner Chris Houston to knee injures against the Packers and suffered other nicks and bruises over the course of the next few weeks. Delmas didn’t return until the playoffs and Houston was never 100 percent.

The injuries hit the Lions hard.

They ended the season 23^rd in total defense, 23^rd against the run and 22^nd against the pass.

“We didn’t adjust well to dealing with those injuries,” Lions head coach Jim Schwartz said Monday. “How much of it was due to losing Delmas and Chris Houston and Willie (Young) and Lawrence Jackson and those guys? We lost a lot of depth on our D-line; we lost a couple key players in our secondary.

“I think you look at the injury situation: our offense, other than the running back position, was relatively healthy over the course of the season. Defensively, I don’t think we could say the same. It’s the same defense, I think, after about week 8, 9, 10, whatever it was, (that) was top-10-type defense. Obviously we didn’t finish that well.”

That’s an understatement.

The Lions allowed a combined 90 points and 1,176 yards of offense in losses to the Packers and Saints to end the season.

Just as important on the Lions’ offseason to-do list as re-signing defensive end Cliff Avril and linebacker Stephen Tulloch is continuing to build depth on defense.

Injuries are a part of life in the NFL and the Lions need to put themselves in a better position to deal with them.

“We certainly still have work to do there,” Schwartz admitted.

Injury report: Lions healthy and ready to roll

The Lions head into their first playoff game in 12 years, Saturday against the Saints, the healthiest they’ve been in more than a month.

Friday’s injury report list’s only safety Chris Harris (back) as doubtful for Saturday night’s game in New Orleans.

Safety Louis Delmas, who hasn’t played since Thanksgiving with a right knee injury, is listed as probable. Delmas practiced all week for the first time since hurting the knee six weeks ago.

Also probable for the Lions are: defensive end Cliff Arvil (back), corner Aaron Berry (shoulder), defensive tackle Nick Fairley (foot), corner Chris Houston (knee/hand), receiver Calvin Johnson (Achilles), corner Alphonso Smith (foot), running back Kevin Smith (ankle/knee) defensive tackle Corey Williams (hip) and defensive end Willie Young (ankle).

The Lions should have all 11 starters on defense for the game.

That includes Williams, who missed last week’s game in Green Bay, and Berry, who hasn’t played since Dec. 11 against the Vikings.

It’s a good time for the Lions to be healthy.

Delmas and Houston injuries were killers to Lions pass defense

More than just stating the obvious that the Lions defense has missed safety Louis Delmas and a healthy Chris Houston at corner over the last six games, there’s statistical evidence to prove their absence has had a big effect on the defense.

Through the first 11 weeks of the season, before Delmas and Houston suffered knee injuries on Thanksgiving against the Packers, the Lions were holding opposing quarterbacks to a 69.0 passer rating.

The Lions ranked third in the NFL at the time in passer rating differential at 24.4. Lions quarterbacks had a passer rating of 93.5 at the time.

But through the final six weeks of the regular season with Delmas out of the lineup and Houston missing most of four games and being limited in two others, opposing quarterbacks raised their passer rating to 82.1.

“When we lost (Delmas) the defense started struggling some,” Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham admitted Thursday. “When he was out, you could tell there was a little bit of a different approach.”

Delmas has practiced all this week and looks to be in line to start when the Lions face quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints on Saturday. Houston says he’s feeling healthier and is ready to go.

The Lions will need both Delmas and Houston to play like they were the first 11 weeks of the season against the high-potent Saints offense.

Delmas looks to start; Johnson and Young sit out practice

Lions safety Louis Delmas was on the field and practicing with the first-team defense in the portion of practice open to the media Tuesday.

Delmas has not played since Thanksgiving with a sprained right knee but looks to be on track for his first start in more than a month as the Lions take on quarterback Drew Brees and the Saints in their playoff opener Saturday in New Orleans.

“Obviously he’s a leader of our secondary, very productive player in our secondary, a guy who plays with a lot of speed and a lot of emotion,” Lions coach Jim Schwartz said of Delmas during Monday’s press conference.

“He’s one of the corner stones of what we want to do defensively, he’s one of the players that we drafted in 2009, one of the guys we wanted to build around and we’ve obviously missed him and want to get him back on the field.”

The Lions were without both Delmas, starting corner Chris Houston (knee) and defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh (suspension) when they lost to the Saints, 31-17, earlier this season.

The Lions defense had it’s full compliment of players at practice Tuesday, including defensive tackle Corey Williams, who missed the Packers game with a hip injury.

The offense, however, was missing receivers Calvin Johnson and Titus Young, who did not practice.

Johnson sat out the first two practices of last week with a sore Achilles but still had 244 yards and a touchdown against the Packers on one day of practice (Friday).

Young had two touchdowns against the Packers and finished the game.

CB Chris Houston back at practice; Calvin Johnson sits again

Lions corner Chris Houston made a late appearance to the practice field Wednesday without a helmet and sporting a cast on his left hand. He did not practice.

On Thursday, Houston made another late appearance to practice, but this time, he was wearing a helmet and was ready to participate.

Houston appeared to have a softer cast on the left hand and took part in individual drills in the portion of practice open to the media.

Receiver Calvin Johnson did not practice for a second straight day with that Achilles injury.

Also not practicing were: defensive tackle Corey Williams, defensive tackle Nick Fairley and safety Louis Delmas.

Defensive end Willie Young (ankle) was back at practice after not participating on Wednesday.

Houston not worried about cast; Johnson sits with Achilles injury

Right at the end of the portion of Lions practice open the media, corner Chris Houston walked onto the practice field in shorts and his No. 23 jersey sporting a hard cast on his left hand to protect an injured pinkie finger.

But there’s no need to worry, according to Houston. He says he’s fine.

“They’ll probably take this off (soon),” he said as he lifted it up and wiggled his fingers. “I’m able to move it.”

Houston said he hurt the pinkie when he fell on it wrong after returning an interception 43-yards in the fourth quarter against the Chargers on Saturday.

Houston even had a good laugh about it when a media member told him he must not have many friends because he had no signatures on his cast.

“I just got it this morning,” he laughed. “I’m sure it’ll be signed in a minute.”

Houston is still trying to move on from a sprained knee he suffered against the Packers on Thanksgiving that forced him to miss two games and remove himself from another.

“It wasn’t all the way back and it still isn’t 100 percent yet, but it will be,” Houston said Wednesday of the knee.

Houston did not practice Wednesday.

Neither did safety Louis Delmas, who’s been dealing with a sprained right knee for more than a month now. Delmas hasn’t played since hurting the knee against the Packers on Thanksgiving and likely won’t play against the Packers on Sunday.

Delmas had arthroscopic surgery on the knee Dec. 17.

Also missing practice was receiver Calvin Johnson, who was listed on the injury report with an Achilles injury.

“I had some things bothering me at the end of the game there, but like I said I’m just trying to be a fresh as possible going into the game,” Johnson said Wednesday. “I don’t feel too bad. I can’t complain too much.”

Defensive tackle Corey Williams (hip) and defensive end Willie Young (ankle) also missed practice.

Corner Aaron Berry, who’s recovering from a separated right shoulder suffered against the Vikings Dec. 11, looked much better in the early portion of practice than he did last week but is still listed as limited on the injury report.

Defensive end Cliff Avril (back) and defensive tackle Nick Fairley (foot) were also listed as limited.

New running back Joique Bell (No. 35) participated in practice.

Lions without four starters at practice Wednesday

The Lions were without four starters at practice Wednesday as they continued on-field preparations for Saturday’s Christmas Eve game against the Chargers at Ford Field.

Safety Louis Delmas, defensive tackle Corey Williams, right tackle Gosder Cherilus and defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch did not participate in the portion of practice open to the media.

Vanden Bosch is typically given a day of rest on Wednesday.

The official injury report will be released at 4 p.m.

Also not practicing for the Lions Wednesday were: defensive tackle Nick Fairley, safety Chris Harris and corner Don Carey.

Fairley practiced Tuesday. He said two weeks ago, though, that rest could be part of his weekly regiment going forward as he continues to deal with a foot injury.

Both Harris and Carey did not practice Tuesday.

Long snapper Don Muhlbach was back practicing Wednesday after missing Tuesday.

Corner Aaron Berry (shoulder), corner Chris Houston (knee) and defensive end Lawrence Jackson (thigh bruise) continue to practice this week.

Still no Louis Delmas at Lions practice

Lions coach Jim Schwartz said Monday that all of his 53 players would be “in the mix to play this week” when the Chargers come to Ford Field on Saturday.

That means none of the injuries the Lions are dealing with are long-term.

However, there were still a number of players missing from Tuesday’s first practice of the week.

Safety Louis Delmas, who had arthroscopic knee surgery on Saturday, did not practice.

Delmas didn’t travel to Oakland and hasn’t played since hurting the knee against the Packers on Thanksgiving.

Also not participating in the portion of practice open to the media were: defensive tackle Corey Williams, safety Chris Harris, corner Don Carey and long snapper Don Muhlbach.

Corner Aaron Berry practiced for the first time since separating his right shoulder against the Vikings Dec. 11 and to part in individual drills.

Berry still looks to be favoring that right shoulder some, though.

Corner Chris Houston, who started against Oakland Sunday but was replaced by Alphonso Smith, was participating in practice.

Defensive end Kyle Vanden Bosch got his usual day of rest to begin the workweek.

Fellow defensive end Lawrence Jackson took part in his second practice since suffering a thigh bruise against the Bears back in November.

Running back Kevin Smith (high ankle sprain) practiced and looked fine.

There will be no official injury report released by the team today.

Lions expect all 53 players to be “in the mix” for Chargers

It’s Week 16 in the NFL and every team is dealing with injuries – Lions included.

But coach Jim Schwartz gave a bit of positive news on that front during his Monday press conference with the media.

“I think that we’ll probably have everybody on our 53 will be in the mix this week,” he said.

“Whether or not they’ll play or not, still way too early to tell, but I think everybody’s going to be at least into consideration – at least in the mix.”

Schwartz said that included safety Louis Delmas, who had minor knee surgery Saturday to clean up a sprain suffered against the Packers on Thanksgiving.

“I mean it’s too early to tell there, but there’s a possibility,” he said.

Corner Chris Houston started Sunday in Oakland for the first time since also spraining a knee on Thanksgiving, but was replaced by Alphonso Smith when he had a hard time coming out of breaks and defending receivers.

Schwartz gave no update on safety Chris Harris, who was evaluated for a concussion early against the Raiders Sunday and did not return.

Corner Eric Wright and linebacker Justin Durant made it through the game with hamstring injuries. Both didn’t practice for the first time last week until Friday.

“Let’s not give out any Purple Hearts or anything.,” Schwartz said of Wright and Durant. “They’re professional football players and they were able to play and they did.”

Running back Kevin Smith made it through the game on that injured ankle, too.