ALLEN PARK >> Lions coach Jim Caldwell said today that he hasn’t had discussions about his future with general manager Bob Quinn.
At his weekly press conference on Tuesday, the coach said he and Quinn talk every day but nothing had changed about his job status since the 27-16 loss at Cincinnati on Sunday which eliminated Detroit from the playoffs.
“Everybody gets evaluated at the end of the year — players, coaches, schemes — that’s part of the process,’’ Caldwell said pointing out they have one more game.
The coach, who was hired in January 2014, has a 35-28 regular season record with the Lions. His best season was his first, when the Lions went 11-5 in 2014. Detroit has been to the playoffs in two of his four seasons.
On Sunday, the Lions (8-7) wrap up the season when they face the Green Bay Packers (7-8) at 1 p.m. at Ford Field.
Caldwell said he has no plans to rest starters, including Matthew Stafford, even though there are no playoff implications. He noted that they’ve played many young players throughout the season and he has no intention of taking extended looks at rookies or inexperienced players.
In other words, it’s another game week for Caldwell and he expects the best of his team.
“Just looking at that overall, I’m not concerned about how I feel, it doesn’t matter, the thing is, we’ve got a game to play, it’s an opportunity for our guys to get better. We’ve got 16 opportunities and you can’t take them for granted,’’ Caldwell said. “There’s a phrase in the Bible that says, ‘Lack no zeal in your work.’ Our guys are professionals they’ll go out there with the same kind of attitude they’ve had. There’s a lot of character on our team, there’s been a lot of situations in the course of the year when they’ve been behind they fight and they come back. There’s no quit, no give-up in this group.
“We anticipate that will be exactly the same in this last game. That’s important for us. So you don’t know what’s going to happen the next day or the next year, you have got to give your best and I think our guys will be committed to that,’’ Caldwell added.
The coach stayed away from evaluating the season since it’s not over. But he did say, “We’re just a little bit above average and a little bit above average is not good enough.”
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