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Marinelli preaches to the faithful: 'A championship football team'


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Five things to watch tonight

Defense: Peyton Manning, Marvin Harrison and company should get a significant amount of playing time. Can the Lions stop -- or even slow down -- the Colts?


Defensive line: On the ends, Dewayne White will make his Lions debut and Kalimba Edwards will return. In the middle, Shaun Rogers could play for the first time since October.


Quarterbacks: If Jon Kitna sits out, J. T. O'Sullivan will get to show what he's got with the first-team offense. He probably would play the whole game.


Returners: Now that Eddie Drummond is gone, Troy Walters, Aveion Cason and Brian Calhoun will return kicks. Walters, Shaun McDonald and maybe Mike Furrey will return punts.


Everything: The last two years, the third exhibition -- the real dress rehearsal for the regular season -- has been a harbinger of disaster. Two years ago, the Lions were blown out by St. Louis on Monday Night Football. Last year, they were embarrassed at Oakland. How will they stack up against the Super Bowl champs?


NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA


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LIONS NOTEBOOK: Kitna, Rogers are iffy, but White will debut
Lions take it slow with QB and DT

August 25, 2007

BY NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA

FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER

The Lions will wait until today to decide whether quarterback Jon Kitna will play in tonight's exhibition at Indianapolis.

Kitna left practice Tuesday with back spasms, then didn't practice Wednesday and Thursday. Coach Rod Marinelli classified Kitna as questionable Friday.

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""He's just stiff,"" Marinelli said. ""During the day he started feeling really good, and then it was, he'd go to bed and he wakes up a little stiff.

""So we're going to see how he wakes up maybe tomorrow and see how he feels. And we'll be smart. We're going to be smart with him.""

The Lions will be much more cautious than they would for a regular-season game.

""I'm not going to put him in there if he's not right,"" Marinelli said.

Defensive tackle Shaun Rogers (knee) is probable, but Marinelli said he will wait until today to make a final decision. Rogers returned to practice this week for the first time since October. If he plays, he will play only about eight snaps, Marinelli said.

Defensive end Dewayne White (groin) will make his Lions debut after sitting out the first two exhibitions.

Linebacker Paris Lenon (knee) and placekicker Jason Hanson (hamstring) are probable. Quarterback Dan Orlovsky (toe) and offensive linemen Damien Woody (ankle) and Frank Davis (knee) are out.

A KIND CUT: President Matt Millen tried to trade return specialist Eddie Drummond but couldn't find a deal, so the Lions released him Thursday.

The timing of the release gives Drummond a better opportunity to find another job.

""I think Matt looked around, but I didn't want to keep waiting,"" Marinelli said. ""We've got to be fair to him, too. I thought that was the fair thing to do. He's been a good player here.

""It's nothing about him. He's a heck of a returner. I don't want to suit up four specialists in a game. It's hard.""

The Lions already had three players who contribute only on special teams: Hanson, punter Nick Harris and long snapper Don Muhlbach. The regular-season roster is limited to 53 players.

Drummond wanted to play receiver, but he fell out of favor with offensive coordinator Mike Martz early last season and got virtually no reps at receiver during the off-season and training camp.

""We really like our receiving corps right now,"" Marinelli said.

The Lions will look at receiver Troy Walters and running backs Aveion Cason and Brian Calhoun on kickoff returns. They will look at Walters and receivers Shaun McDonald and Mike Furrey on punt returns.

Contact NICHOLAS J. COTSONIKA at 313-222-8831 or ncotsonika@freepress.com. Check out his Lions blog at www.freep.com/sports.

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Bob M.

At this point and time all Lions games are important and fortunate for me I will get to watch the them live on the NFL network. Yes it is against the Colts but I'll be more interested in the Defense and Special teams then the score. This will be the pivotal game that makes or breaks who will be around on September 9th. This game will show us what the Lions are really made of and what we can expect from them when the real season kicks in so go Lions! At least once and for all before I take that last trip to where ever we go on that last trip.

Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2007 8:35 am


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