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Lions Coach Jim Schwartz Says Rookie QB Kellen Moore Isn't an Experiment (Yahoo! Contributor Network)

COMMENTARY| Detroit Lions rookie quarterback Kellen Moore is not an "experiment," says Lions coach Jim Schwartz.

 

Nate Burleson: Lions need less emotion sometimes (The Associated Press)

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) Nate Burleson says he didn't see what fellow Detroit Lions receiver Titus Young did to get himself dismissed from team workouts this week.

 

Lions' Web site says Titus Young wasn't ordered away (National Football Post)

Doesn't explain why receiver was absent

 

Seahawks trade for Kellen Winslow; hope to make 2-TE sets more productive (Shutdown Corner)

In 2011, per the game-charting of NFL.com's Brian McIntyre, the Seattle Seahawks put two tight ends on the field 39 percent of the time, one of the highest figures in the NFL. However, they didn't get much production from those tight ends. Former Oakland Raiders tight end Zach Miller, acquired as a free agent before the 2011 season, caught just 25 passes on 44 targets for 233 yards and no touchdowns -- Seattle's injury-weakened offensive line put Miller in a position to block most of the time. Despite that, Miller led the team in all categories at the position. On Monday evening, the Seahawks endeavored to become more productive with the 2-TE sets they prefer by trading for ex-Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Kellen Winslow. For assuming Winslow's contract, the Seahawks gave up just a seventh-round draft pick in 2013 (conditional sixth if Winslow meets certain performance guidelines). Winslow has three years left in a six-year, $36.1 million contract he signed in 2009, but the $3.3 million he's due this season in base salary is not guaranteed. The eight-year veteran was deemed expendable by new Bucs head coach Greg Schiano after missing a recent round of OTAs, and it was Winslow himself who revealed the news -- last Saturday, Schiano told him that the Bucs were looking to make a deal and get him out of there. In his place, the Bucs signed former Indianapolis Colts TE Dallas Clark to a one-year deal. [ Related: Trading Kellen Winslow could be risky for the Buccaneers ] "It's kind of shocking, but that's what it is," Winslow told Ross Tucker of SIRIUS NFL Radio on Monday morning. " [Schiano] said he was upset that I wasn't working out with the team in the offseason, and then, the first week of OTAs. But, look -- I've been there the last three years, and I've had a successful career so far, and you just don't get rid of one of your best players because of that. That's just what I was told, but I have nothing bad to say about coach Schiano -- it was just a disagreement on why I'm not there yet. I was training in San Diego, and I was going to start [in OTAs with the team] today, but I got the call on Saturday that they're looking for somebody else." Winslow was especially surprised, given his claim that he has participated in a team event before in this preseason. "There was a previous minicamp -- I went to that. It was a three-day minicamp and then, I came back down to San Diego to train, and I was going to start [back with the team] today."

 

Mikel Leshoure says 'lessons have been learned' (National Football Post)

Running back not 100 percent quite yet

 

Lions hit the ground running in the Motor City (The Associated Press)

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) Matthew Stafford had Jahvid Best in the backfield, tight ends Brandon Pettigrew and Tony Scheffler on the inside, and receiver Calvin Johnson on the outside.

 

Lions WR Titus Young barred from practice after starting fight with teammate (Shutdown Corner)

If things like this keep happening, I'm going to start believing all the people who tell me that football is a violent game. When the Detroit Lions took the field for their OTAs on Monday, receiver Titus Young was conspicuous by his absence. Turned out that Young, the second-year player taken in the second round out of Boise State, had a "confrontation" with veteran safety Louis Delmas during last week's voluntary workouts. What kind of "confrontation"? According to Anwar Richardson of MLive.com , Young punched Delmas when the safety wasn't looking after the two players got into a little barking. After that fracas, the Lions punished Young by barring him from OTAs and minicamps until further notice. Delmas was on hand Monday and practiced, which tells you who the coaches are most likely blaming in this case. "This is the voluntary part of our offseason program," head coach Jim Schwartz said after practice. "There is no need to comment. It sort of entails that it is not voluntary. I'm not going to comment on any other thing." As our buddy Ian Rapoport of NFL.com pointed out , it's a good thing teammates pulled Young away, because Delmas has a well-deserved reputation as a guy you wouldn't want to mess with. [Related: Matt Stafford spends $15K on auction, donates prize to fan's family ] Young caught 48 passes for 607 yards and six touchdowns as a rookie, and that touchdown total was the fourth-highest in franchise history for any first-year player. But concerns about Young's attitude have dogged him since his college days. As the Associated Press put it in 2010,"Titus Young was once so deep in [Boise State head coach] Chris Petersen's doghouse that just seeing the football field again was going to be an accomplishment." He was benched for most of the 2008 season, but fought his way back (in a figurative sense) and excelled through his last two collegiate seasons. It's clear that Young has the talent to make the NFL work for him, but will he learn that you have to keep your head straight? In a game against the New Orleans Saints last season, he incurred a personal foul penalty that had teammate Dominic Raiola getting in the rookie's face and telling him to grow up -- with several stronger words mixed in. "I'll take a setback as a setup for a comeback," Young told the AP in 2010. "I learned from my mistakes and it's unfortunate I wasn't on the field for that time, but I still have the opportunity to play right now and I'm looking forward to the future. That was the past, just keep on building, keep on playing, keep on practicing."

 

Report: Lions tell Titus Young not to show for OTA's (National Football Post)

Wide receiver banned for fight last week

 

Young absent from Lions' OTAs following fight (Pro Football Weekly)

Lions WR Titus Young was absent from Monday’s offseason team activities following a fight with a teammate.

 

Matthew Stafford spends $15,000 to win auction package, then gives it to a young fan’s family (Shutdown Corner)

Matthew Stafford attended the Griese-Hutchinson-Woodson Champions for Children's Hearts weekend to benefit the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Before he left, the Detroit Lions quarterback reached into his pocket and made a huge difference in the life of a family. After befriending Mott patient Faith Falzone and her brother Will, Stafford learned that his family liked to visit Chicago and were big Lions fans. According to Faith and Will's mother, Mary Ann, Stafford and his girlfriend took a genuine interest in the family. The auction started, and a "Monday Night Football" package for the Lions game at Chicago from ESPN's Mike Tirico came up. Retired NFL linebacker and Michigan alum Dhani Jones, who was serving as auctioneer, asked Stafford to throw in some game tickets. Stafford agreed and donated six tickets. When the bidding began, Stafford joined in. Will and Faith's mother was surprised to see this :