hotfudgedetroit.com

Calvin Johnson said Thursday that he suffered nerve damage from hits suffered in the Detroit Lions' loss to the Minnesota Vikings in September, which has made it hard for him to grip the ball, the Detroit Free Press reported.

The newspaper highlighted two particular hits Johnson suffered in the Week 4 game, one by safety Harrison Smith to Johnson's upper chest that prevented a touchdown, and a helmet-to-helmet hit by linebacker Chad Greenway. Greenway was fined $21,000 for that hit, which Johnson said Thursday gave him a concussion.

Lions coach Jim Schwartz, however, disputed Johnson's claim that he was concussed on the hit, the newspaper reported.

The Lions had a bye following that game, but the Free Press reported that Johnson had at least three drops in the three games after the bye.

Johnson pointed to the nerve damage as one of the reasons for those drops. When asked if the hits made him reluctant to go over the middle to catch passes, Johnson told the newspaper that the nerve damage "was kind of messing up my grip a little bit."

He described the pain from the injury as "just stuff shooting down your arm," the newspaper reported.

He didn't practice last week, and hasn't practiced this week because of a sore knee. He overcame the pain in his knee to catch seven passes for 129 yards in last week's victory at Jacksonville.

Johnson said he's feeling better, however, as the Lions prepare to face the Vikings on Sunday for the second time this season.

"It's definitely coming back, feeling a lot better, but it's the middle of the season," he told the newspaper.

The 27-year-old Johnson has just one touchdown reception this season, a year after finishing second in the NFL with 16 touchdown catches. He ranks third in the NFL this season with 767 receiving yards, however. He led the NFL last season with 1,681 yards.

http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/86080 ... rting-grip

The Detroit Lions say Kid Rock plans to perform during halftime of the team's Thanksgiving Day game against the Houston Texans at Detroit's Ford Field.

The team and the United Way announced Friday that the show will include Kid Rock's new song "Detroit, Michigan." The track references a number of the city's music stars, including Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Eminem as well as other big names, such as Rosa Parks and Henry Ford.

The song "Detroit, Michigan" is on Kid Rock's album "Rebel Soul," which is to be released Nov. 19.

Born Robert Ritchie in a suburb northeast of Detroit, Kid Rock continues to live in the area and is an outspoken booster of the city and state.

The halftime show will celebrate the 125th anniversary of United Way.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121109/S ... |FRONTPAGE

Andy wrote:

The Detroit Lions say Kid Rock plans to perform during halftime of the team's Thanksgiving Day game against the Houston Texans at Detroit's Ford Field.

The team and the United Way announced Friday that the show will include Kid Rock's new song "Detroit, Michigan." The track references a number of the city's music stars, including Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Eminem as well as other big names, such as Rosa Parks and Henry Ford.

The song "Detroit, Michigan" is on Kid Rock's album "Rebel Soul," which is to be released Nov. 19.

Born Robert Ritchie in a suburb northeast of Detroit, Kid Rock continues to live in the area and is an outspoken booster of the city and state.

The halftime show will celebrate the 125th anniversary of United Way.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121109/S ... |FRONTPAGE

Great. Ted Nugent wasn't available?

The Suburban Avenger wrote:

Andy wrote:

The Detroit Lions say Kid Rock plans to perform during halftime of the team's Thanksgiving Day game against the Houston Texans at Detroit's Ford Field.

The team and the United Way announced Friday that the show will include Kid Rock's new song "Detroit, Michigan." The track references a number of the city's music stars, including Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Eminem as well as other big names, such as Rosa Parks and Henry Ford.

The song "Detroit, Michigan" is on Kid Rock's album "Rebel Soul," which is to be released Nov. 19.

Born Robert Ritchie in a suburb northeast of Detroit, Kid Rock continues to live in the area and is an outspoken booster of the city and state.

The halftime show will celebrate the 125th anniversary of United Way.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121109/S ... |FRONTPAGE

Great. Ted Nugent wasn't available?

Last year it was fucking Nickelback ... this is an upgrade (albeit a small one).

Andy wrote:

The Suburban Avenger wrote:

Andy wrote:

The Detroit Lions say Kid Rock plans to perform during halftime of the team's Thanksgiving Day game against the Houston Texans at Detroit's Ford Field.

The team and the United Way announced Friday that the show will include Kid Rock's new song "Detroit, Michigan." The track references a number of the city's music stars, including Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Eminem as well as other big names, such as Rosa Parks and Henry Ford.

The song "Detroit, Michigan" is on Kid Rock's album "Rebel Soul," which is to be released Nov. 19.

Born Robert Ritchie in a suburb northeast of Detroit, Kid Rock continues to live in the area and is an outspoken booster of the city and state.

The halftime show will celebrate the 125th anniversary of United Way.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121109/S ... |FRONTPAGE

Great. Ted Nugent wasn't available?

Last year it was fucking Nickelback ... this is an upgrade (albeit a small one).

I have no doubt he'll hear cheers at Ford Field, but here's to hoping there's a smattering of audible boos in there too.

Shark wrote:

Andy wrote:

The Suburban Avenger wrote:

Andy wrote:

The Detroit Lions say Kid Rock plans to perform during halftime of the team's Thanksgiving Day game against the Houston Texans at Detroit's Ford Field.

The team and the United Way announced Friday that the show will include Kid Rock's new song "Detroit, Michigan." The track references a number of the city's music stars, including Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin and Eminem as well as other big names, such as Rosa Parks and Henry Ford.

The song "Detroit, Michigan" is on Kid Rock's album "Rebel Soul," which is to be released Nov. 19.

Born Robert Ritchie in a suburb northeast of Detroit, Kid Rock continues to live in the area and is an outspoken booster of the city and state.

The halftime show will celebrate the 125th anniversary of United Way.

http://www.freep.com/article/20121109/S ... |FRONTPAGE

Great. Ted Nugent wasn't available?

Last year it was fucking Nickelback ... this is an upgrade (albeit a small one).

I have no doubt he'll hear cheers at Ford Field, but here's to hoping there's a smattering of audible boos in there too.

Hopefully this works out better for him than Michigan Brewing Company and Mitt Romney did...

Andy wrote:I just want a non-losing season at this point.

The Detroit Lions announced today that current and founding member of Bob Seger & the Silver Bullet Band sax man Alto Reed will be performing the national anthem prior to the Lions’ 73rd Thanksgiving Day Classic November 22 vs. the Houston Texans.
Reed, who will be featured at Goodwill Industries of Greater Detroit’s Rock for Jobs concert, is a native Detroiter and legendary sax man. His most recognizable performances include the soulful introduction to "Turn the Page" and the saxophone solo in "Old Time Rock and Roll". Reed has also performed with Foghat, Grand Funk Railroad, Dan Aykroyd, Jim Belushi, The Blues Brothers and The Ventures among others.

The Lions have had enough of Titus Young and his temperamental ways.

Young was sent home from the Lions’ practice facility Monday and coach Jim Schwartz said he will not play in Thursday’s Thanksgivinggame against the Texans as punishment for repeated selfish behavior that culminated in Sunday’s 24-20 loss to the Packers.

Schwartz would not term the punishment a suspension, but he said Young probably won’t practice again today and his status with the team will be re-evaluated on a week-to-week basis.

“When you play a game like football it’s a team sport and players have obligations to the team and Titus hasn’t done a very good job of fulfilling those obligations this week and recently,” Schwartz said. “He’ll be inactive this week and we’ll plug the other guys in and go on.”

Young lined up at least two times in the wrong position Sunday, including once on a crucial fourth-quarter series when the Lions failed to gain a yard, and had a verbal confrontation with receivers coach Shawn Jefferson that precipitated a shouting match between Jefferson and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan that was caught by Fox TV cameras.

With just under two minutes to play and the Lions trailing 21-20, Young lined up in the slot receiver position to quarterback Matthew Stafford’s left, where tight end Tony Scheffler was supposed to be. When Scheffler motioned into the slot, Young waved him back outside.

Schwartz said Young's misalignment "caused a lot of confusion" on the play and led to a false-start penalty by Gosder Cherilus that left the Lions in a second-and-15. Stafford threw incomplete on the next three passes.

"With Gosder, he was sitting in the blocks way too long," Schwartz said. "Anybody that's ever run track, you can't keep guys in the blocks that long and it was because of the situation with getting aligned."

TV cameras caught Jefferson yelling at Linehan to “take (Young) out” after that series. Schwartz said that exchange was regrettable, but insisted Monday there are “no issues” between his assistants.

“The thing about it is they were both on the same side of the argument, but in the heat of the moment they ended up missing that fact,” Schwartz said.

Young, whose agent did not return an email seeking comment Monday, has had a long history of immature behavior dating back to his time at Boise State.

He was suspended for most of his sophomore season after a fight with a teammate, and was widely considered a character risk when the Lions took him in the second round of the 2011 draft.

“It was part of what he did in college, but that was early on his college career,” Schwartz said. “That was his sophomore year and our indication was that he was able to have two years after that. There’s a lot of guys that have all kinds of incidents and all kinds of things that happen when you’re 18 years old or 19 years old and away at college. I think that you’ve got to count on guys putting that stuff behind them and maturing. That hasn’t always happened in this case.”

Last year, Schwartz benched Young for most of the second-half of a December loss to the Saints after Young was penalized for shoving a defender near the goal line.

In May, he was sent home from the Lions’ practice facility after he sucker-punched teammate Louis Delmas, one of the Lions’ most respected veterans, and he’s repeatedly drawn the ire of coaches and teammates this year for running lazy routes and sulking when plays don’t go his way.

For all his behavior problems, Young has contributed little on the field. He had 48 catches for 607 yards as a rookie, and has 33 catches for 383 yards through 10 games this year despite an increased role the last four weeks since Nate Burleson was lost for the season to a broken leg.

Young’s normally dour mood changed dramatically after Burleson’s injury – he rarely speaks to the media, but grew light-hearted and even playfully bear-hugged one reporter in the days after Burleson went down – and he had his first career 100-yard game the next week in a win over the Seahawks.

But Young has just seven catches in the three games since, and has rarely appeared on the same page with Stafford.

Veteran Mike Thomas, acquired in a trade last month from Jacksonville, is expected to start at outside receiver against the Texans, with rookie Ryan Broyles staying in the slot.

Lions captain Kyle Vanden Bosch said most “everybody likes Titus as a person and everybody’s tried to bring him along.” But Schwartz said Young’s behavior “is going to have to change” because “eventually there’s no more opportunities to be able to get it right.”

“It’s disappointing because this is ground that we’ve already covered and I thought we would be past this, but we haven’t been,” Schwartz said. “His behavior on Sunday was unacceptable and it hurt the team, particularly on offense, and it was a distraction and we’re going to eliminate that distraction particularly this week.”

http://www.freep.com/article/20121119/S ... |OPINION01

The Suburban Avenger wrote:Once more: Jim Schwartz is more hat than cattle.