Lions will play starters against Packers; team doesn’t see it as meaningless game

Stafford said he works hard for opportunities to play on Sundays

ALLEN PARK — If you think Jim Caldwell would bench his starters — including Matthew Stafford — in the Lions’ season finale against the Packers, you have not been paying attention.

The Lions coach has been consistent through his four seasons in Detroit. He plays every game to win and to do that he’ll put his best players on the field.

It’s pretty simple.

“This game still for us still has significance. It’s one of our 16 games that we play, and we got to go out and we got to play it well,’’ Caldwell said on Wednesday. “It’s one of the things that I think is often times overlooked. I mean, I got a whole locker room of highly, highly competitive people, and they don’t care what you’re playing. Whether it’s Cornhole, or Ping Pong, or whatever it might be, you guys see them. They compete at every single thing they do, and they’ll be no different in this game as well.”

(Cornhole and Ping Pong are the games of choice in the Lions’ locker room.)

Stafford and his teammates work hard all year for the chance to play 16 games.

“I think the football pads are on and it’s Sunday. There’s a lot at stake. Every time we go out there and play, whatever you put on tape is who you are as a player and who you are as a team. And it’s another opportunity for us to go out there and play and get a win,’’ Stafford said on Wednesday. “There’s a chance to have a winning record. There’s a chance to be 5-1 in our division. Some opportunities to go out there and do some things that before the season you wanted to do.”

Some fans want to see backup quarterback Jake Rudock play. Don’t expect to see him unless Stafford is injured.

“I mean I’m the quarterback here. This is what I work hard for. I work hard for opportunities to go out there and play on Sundays. I don’t care what the situation is. You get your body ready. You get your mind ready to go out there and play,’’ Stafford said. “You go out there and play. And I think to think otherwise is not real smart.”

For Caldwell, it  goes back to when he was a young college coach and decided to red-shirt some talented freshmen. As he tells the story, the next year those guys were playing for another coach because Caldwell did not have success without them and was fired.

The Lions (8-7) host the Packers (7-8) on Sunday at Ford Field.

Lions Matthew Stafford: ‘I appreciate everything coach Caldwell does’

If asked the QB will share his thoughts with GM Bob Quinn

ALLEN PARK — Matthew Stafford certainly has his thoughts about coach Jim Caldwell who is on the hot seat after the Lions did not reach the playoffs this season.

Stafford said if GM Bob Quinn asks he’d be happy to share his thoughts on Caldwell.

“If he asks my opinion I will tell him I appreciate everything coach Caldwell does. I think he’s a really good leader of men, I think he does a great job in our locker room of getting us ready to play football and the rest is up to the players to go out there and make plays and win games,’’ Stafford said on Wednesday. “As far as any major details or anything like that I’ll keep that between Bob and myself. I think he understands what kind of guy coach Caldwell is too, he’s been around long enough to understand what he’s all about.’’

Stafford said he is not “crazy proactive” about working with the front office but is available.

“I think that’s the appropriate approach for a player. It’s not my profession to know what guy on what other team or in college runs a 40. It’s not what I spend my time on. I’m definitely available, dialogue has happened throughout the years and will probably continue to happen. Whether or not my opinion is taken seriously is not up to me I just go out there and play ball if they ask me something, they ask me something,’’ Stafford said.

Caldwell is wrapping up his fourth season with the Lions with a 35-28 regular season record. He’s brought the Lions to the playoffs in two of those four years.

The coach was hired by former GM Martin Mayhew in January 2014. When Quinn was hired in January 2016, his first big decision to keep Caldwell as coach. Both shared similar

Caldwell is the second coach Stafford has played for in Detroit. Jim Schwartz was brought in prior to Stafford’s rookie season to turn around the team that had just finished the 2008 season with a 0-16 record.

The Lions (8-7) host the Packers (7-8)  at 1 p.m. on Sunday at Ford Field.

Lions Jim Caldwell definitive that race not an issue in how he is treated

Being on hot seat part of being a coach

ALLEN PARK — A Michigan sports editor, who is not in regular attendance at the Lions, has written a scathing column criticizing the fans and local media for being racist in their treatment of Lions coach Jim Caldwell.

Caldwell, who is wrapping up his fourth season with the Lions, is the franchise’s winningest coach. He owns a 35-28 record in the regular season and has brought the team to the playoffs in two of his four seasons.

Yet, he is on the hot seat and could be fired next week because the Lions (8-7) failed to reach the playoffs this season. He is not alone, several NFL coaches face the possibility of losing their jobs next week. The NFL is a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately league. Coaches understand this when they are hired.

Caldwell was asked this morning if he felt race was an issue in his dealings with the media who are in attendance on a daily basis.

His answer: “No.”

In fact, he reminded the media that he does not read our coverage.

When pressed on the issue, Caldwell said: “I’m not saying anything, I’m just answering his question. Why do I have to go into any more detail? It’s end of the story. (Fans) can read it and come to their own conclusion, it doesn’t have anything to do with how I respond.

“He asked me a question and I said, ‘No.’ That’s the way I feel. You’ve never heard me blame anything, at any point in time or have any excuses about anything we’ve ever done and I never will. I’ve been around a long time, my father wouldn’t allow me to do it when I was a kid and there’s no difference today.’’

Coaches are hired to be fired and Caldwell understands this. The color of a coach’s skin has absolutely nothing to do with the issue. Ask any member of the media who is in regular attendance at Caldwell’s press conferences. That includes me. We have gotten to know him in four years. Race has never been an issue with Caldwell or with how he is treated.

He understands if the team doesn’t perform, his job is on the line.

“It’s part of our business, it’s the way it goes,’’ Caldwell said.