Detroit Lions

*Mike Martz announced that Mike Williams is making progress towards understanding what it takes to be a pro receiver.  Williams may be activated this weekend.

*Roy Williams will not stop running his mouth.  First he guaranteed victory over the Bears at Soldier Field this weekend, now he's telling the press that the way to jump start the offense is to start Mike Williams.  For all Chad Johnson's talking, he doesn't often publicly second guess his coach.  We're getting into Terrell Owens territory now.  Soon it will be an assault on Jon Kitna.

*Expect Mike Williams to be inactive most of the season unless there is a significant injury.  The Lions sign Az Zahir Hakeem, so things are really not looking up for Williams' chances.

*If you drafted Mike Williams, this might be a good time to cut him.  He did not get into the preseason game against Oakland and Rod Marinelli claims he didn't earn a chance to play.  Things don't look good for him.  Charles Rogers has a higher upside, and Charles Rogers doesn't have much of an upside.

*Last season's breakout starter Scottie Vines will miss at least 6 weeks of the regular season with a sports hernia.  That's a shame because a sports hernia could impact him all year, and the job was his to keep.  Hopefully, he'll be back healthy next year.

*The starting lineup has been set for Friday night's preseason game and it looks like Corey Bradford (last year with the Texans) will start opposite Roy Williams.  Mike Williams and Charles Rogers are listed as 3rd team.  Don't be surprised to see Rogers released.

*We're still wavering on Kevin Jones.  All signs point to breaking out this year, but offensive coordinator Mike Martz has a tendency to throw the ball and forget about his backs.  Remember when he forgot Steven Jackson was on his team?

*We're hearing more and more that Jon Kitna is the starter now and into the season.  McCown will only get on the field when it counts if there is a serious problem with Jon.

*I continue to hear great things about Roy Williams and Kevin Jones coming out of Detroit.  Don't let these guys slide too far in your draft even though they were sub par last year.  It should be a whole new look for the Lions.

*Arlen Harris is the clear #2 back in Detroit

*More good press from Detroit about a wide receiver.  This time it's Corey Bradford.  I'm still not excited about him considering he has not proven much so far, but what is important is he is definitely ahead of Mike Williams in the depth chart.

*Reports are that RB Kevin Jones has worked his tail off in the off season.  He has added a bit of weight and retained his quickness.  More importantly, he has worked on catching the ball out of the backfield.  Jones could fall far enough to be a steal in your draft this year.  Remember that Mike Martz tends to know what he's doing with backs. 

*We're hearing good things about Roy Williams and the Mike Williams is back in the dog house - he's on the 3rd string right now.  Martz has said publicly that he loves Roy Williams and Eddie Drummond.

http://www.detroitlions.com/ - Official Site

http://www.freep.com/index/lions.htm

http://www.detnews.com/lions/index.htm

http://www.mlive.com/lions/ - news sites

http://www.detroitlions.com/roster.cfm?section_id=15&top=21&level=2 - roster

http://www.ourlads.com/secure/depthchart.cfm?index1=DET - depth chart

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/lions/stats.htm - stats

http://www.nfl.com/freeagency/nfc-signings - free agency