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DREW SHARP: Marinelli's credibility at stake with Williams, Rogers
August 10, 2006
BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Lions coaches are talking a tough game when it comes to receivers Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, demoting them down the team's depth chart.
Sound familiar?
Bobby Ross threatened one-way bus tickets out of town to those who didn't adhere to his militaristic approach, but the Greyhound terminal stayed empty until the coach himself fled town.
Words more than deeds are coin of the realm with this organization. Matt Millen talked his way into the president's gig five years ago and, after steering the Lions to the worst record in the NFL during that period, talked his way into a five-year extension.
Team owner William Clay Ford Sr. likes what he hears from his latest head coach -- but doesn't he always?
The stern messages from Rod Marinelli and offensive coordinator Mike Martz are commendable, but they lack the necessary gravitas because the Lions lack the stones to back up their tall words with taut action.
And Rogers and Williams -- without question the highest paid third-string tandem in sports today considering both have pocketed bonuses and salaries worth more than $20 million -- know that.
Despite the proactive declarations from the latest, newest coaching regime that there is no safe harbor for those unwilling to provide maximum effort and commitment, the Lions remain organizationally reactionary.
Fear has become reflexive. You know they're haunted with nightmares of Rogers and Williams possibly reaching their potential elsewhere when their interest should focus exclusively on their value as Detroit Lions.
And their current value is nil.
There's a disconnect between Marinelli's expectations and Rogers' and Williams' response. And if they haven't gotten the message from the new taskmaster, who arrived seven months ago, then why should anyone believe that an early exhibition-season downgrading will make the point?
Martz told reporters following Wednesday's practice that he wasn't playing mind games with the receivers, but they've become lab rats in an experiment that will ultimately test the organization's tolerance.
How far are the Lions willing to go to prove a point to the entire team?
If Marinelli talks a big game now regarding Rogers and Williams but later backs down, he risks losing credibility in the locker room, and that usually proves difficult for a first-time head coach to overcome.
"It's important for them (Rogers and Williams), yes," said Marinelli in regard to Friday's exhibition opener against Denver. "It's important for every guy out here. Some guys got to prove more than others. Some have to be able to keep their jobs, and some have to make progress in what we're doing."
The players grew too comfortable under Steve Mariucci's aloof stewardship. Martz is known for keeping guys guessing and making them uneasy.
OK, let's be straight here. Martz has the reputation for driving his players batty.
He was Kurt Warner's mentor in St. Louis, molding the former grocery store clerk into a Super Bowl champion and league most valuable player. But Warner reportedly rejected the Lions' free-agency overtures earlier this year because he wanted nothing to do with Martz's often-maniacal techniques.
A fresh start only works if it blows out the dead weight inherited from the previous regime, and Millen must understand that even more than his new coaches.
Doesn't it always come back to Millen?
He brought Rogers and Williams here. He defended them with the coaching change, implying that their difficulties were as much a product of suspect instruction as their own immaturity. And if he's left with no alternative but cutting loose one or both, his tenure bears the further stain of sacrificing as many as three of his former top-10 overall draft selections in a span of a few months.
And I don't think he can do that, regardless of the bluster. I don't think he can accept the reality that the players he drafted are as bad as the coaching he courted.
But any declaration to "shape up" is reduced to blather if not followed through with a "ship out" response.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060810/SPORTS01/608100341/1049
August 10, 2006
BY DREW SHARP
FREE PRESS COLUMNIST
Lions coaches are talking a tough game when it comes to receivers Charles Rogers and Mike Williams, demoting them down the team's depth chart.
Sound familiar?
Bobby Ross threatened one-way bus tickets out of town to those who didn't adhere to his militaristic approach, but the Greyhound terminal stayed empty until the coach himself fled town.
Words more than deeds are coin of the realm with this organization. Matt Millen talked his way into the president's gig five years ago and, after steering the Lions to the worst record in the NFL during that period, talked his way into a five-year extension.
Team owner William Clay Ford Sr. likes what he hears from his latest head coach -- but doesn't he always?
The stern messages from Rod Marinelli and offensive coordinator Mike Martz are commendable, but they lack the necessary gravitas because the Lions lack the stones to back up their tall words with taut action.
And Rogers and Williams -- without question the highest paid third-string tandem in sports today considering both have pocketed bonuses and salaries worth more than $20 million -- know that.
Despite the proactive declarations from the latest, newest coaching regime that there is no safe harbor for those unwilling to provide maximum effort and commitment, the Lions remain organizationally reactionary.
Fear has become reflexive. You know they're haunted with nightmares of Rogers and Williams possibly reaching their potential elsewhere when their interest should focus exclusively on their value as Detroit Lions.
And their current value is nil.
There's a disconnect between Marinelli's expectations and Rogers' and Williams' response. And if they haven't gotten the message from the new taskmaster, who arrived seven months ago, then why should anyone believe that an early exhibition-season downgrading will make the point?
Martz told reporters following Wednesday's practice that he wasn't playing mind games with the receivers, but they've become lab rats in an experiment that will ultimately test the organization's tolerance.
How far are the Lions willing to go to prove a point to the entire team?
If Marinelli talks a big game now regarding Rogers and Williams but later backs down, he risks losing credibility in the locker room, and that usually proves difficult for a first-time head coach to overcome.
"It's important for them (Rogers and Williams), yes," said Marinelli in regard to Friday's exhibition opener against Denver. "It's important for every guy out here. Some guys got to prove more than others. Some have to be able to keep their jobs, and some have to make progress in what we're doing."
The players grew too comfortable under Steve Mariucci's aloof stewardship. Martz is known for keeping guys guessing and making them uneasy.
OK, let's be straight here. Martz has the reputation for driving his players batty.
He was Kurt Warner's mentor in St. Louis, molding the former grocery store clerk into a Super Bowl champion and league most valuable player. But Warner reportedly rejected the Lions' free-agency overtures earlier this year because he wanted nothing to do with Martz's often-maniacal techniques.
A fresh start only works if it blows out the dead weight inherited from the previous regime, and Millen must understand that even more than his new coaches.
Doesn't it always come back to Millen?
He brought Rogers and Williams here. He defended them with the coaching change, implying that their difficulties were as much a product of suspect instruction as their own immaturity. And if he's left with no alternative but cutting loose one or both, his tenure bears the further stain of sacrificing as many as three of his former top-10 overall draft selections in a span of a few months.
And I don't think he can do that, regardless of the bluster. I don't think he can accept the reality that the players he drafted are as bad as the coaching he courted.
But any declaration to "shape up" is reduced to blather if not followed through with a "ship out" response.
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060810/SPORTS01/608100341/1049