Much has been made about the Detroit Lions being an undisciplined group on the field and an arrest waiting to happen off of it.
The Lions during this training camp took steps to address those matters, and some on the team feel that the effort took some of their aggressiveness away.
According to ESPN.com wide receiver Nate Burleson “said that in an effort to regain some discipline after an off-season of arrest, the Lions may have lost their swagger.”
Burleson suggested that after a come behind victory over the Eagles, the Lions have regained their on field “bad boy” image.
“We had a lot of discipline issues during the offseason, and we wanted to tighten up because the perception of this organization started to change — what we’d worked for was getting torn down, and we wanted to be more of a mature team,” Burleson said. “But finding that maturity off the field can’t compromise who we are on the field, and who we are on the field are the bad guys.
“We’re the ones that nobody wants to see succeed, and we like it that way. We play better that way. I think everybody took it in their own hands to be better men off the field, and that followed us a little bit on the field, but I think we’re back where we need to be.”
“I talked to the guys last week, and I said we’ve got to get back to being angry, mad at everybody, not really caring what people think about us, playing with that chip on our shoulders.”
“It’s hard to have a whole lot of fun when you’re losing, but yeah, I think it is a game meant to be played with emotion,” Schwartz said Monday, according to the Detroit News. “That was one of the things we talked about going in when we were 1-3. It’s like, ‘Look: We’re a top-10 offense; we’re a top-10 defense. Let’s start acting like it.'”
So if the Lions lose next week then what’s the excuse.