One line of reasoning goes that the Lions want to make the announcement soon so that he gets the majority of the repetitions during training camp.

I certainly hope the Lions don’t plan to rush the young quarterback like this.

Daunte Culpepper is a capable veteran who can handle the quarterback duties until Stafford is ready. Culpepper won’t be the Pro Bowler that he was in Minnesota, but I liked some of the things I saw from him late last season and this year he will be in better shape and have more of a grasp of the offense.

If Stafford is clearly the better quarterback during training camp, then start him. But don’t throw him in there just because you’ve invested a lot of money in him. I’ve never heard of a quarterback being harmed by held back a few games, but many have suffered permanent damage by being rushed into action.

Will Jim Schwartz be a good coach? No one knows the answer to that question. Only time will tell.

I like what I have seen so far, but, then again, I liked my first impressions of R0d Marinelli and Steve Marinelli, too. I did have reservations about Marty Mornhinweg from the start.

Anyway, Schwartz seems to have a good resume. He has paid his dues as a defensive coordinator and has a record of success doing that. The people from the Tennessee organization that I’ve heard talk about him have lots of good things to say.

And I like that the Lions went for a defensive guy. Detroit’s offense was not all that bad last year. They have a dangerous receiver and a capable running back. The defense was the main reason they went 0-16. The Lions simply could not get stops at key times.

A lot has been made of the comment Schwartz made about the Lions needing to find a replacement for Bobby Layne. Everyone assumed he was talking about the draft.

What if that replacement is Vince Young? The Titans seem to have soured on Young and Schwartz might have some ties to him.

Calvin Johnson made a catch that appeared to give them a first down on the Minnesota 8-yard line. But their joy was short lived. A video review wiped the catch out and the Lions wound up settling for a field goal and still trailed by a point.

I have no way of knowing if that was a good call or not. The game was not televised and I haven’t seen a videotape of the play yet.

But doesn’t it seem like a lot of questionable calls have gone against the Lions this season? The team is bad enough on its own, the other teams don’t need help from the officials to beat them. It’s like piling on.

Maybe it’s just that good teams create their breaks and bad teams get what they deserve.

But I am beginning to have my doubts.

Their best opportunity might have been Sunday at home against Jacksonville, but that game wasn’t even close. The Lions were positively putrid.

The schedule the rest of the way will be tough.

They play at Carolina Sunday, come home for three straight games (Tampa Bay, Tennessee and Minnesota), play at Indianapolis, host New Orleans in their final home game and finish at Green Bay.

Green Bay and New Orleans are the only teams on the list with losing records and both of them are 4-5. It looks like every team the Lions play the rest of the way will have something at stake when they take on Detroit.

Well, the Lions will, too. They are playing for the No. 1 pick in the draft and a chance to make history as the first 0-16 team ever.

When I wrote my previous post at halftime, there appeared to be some hope that they might rally to win the game. But the tackling didn’t get much better in the second half. I thought the defense would improve this year, but if they can’t stop a horrible Atlanta offense which had a rookie quarterback starting his first game, there isn’t much reason for hope.

And as bad as the defense played, the offense has to shoulder part of the blame as well.

Jon Kitna threw a horrible interception, threw an incomplete pass when he could have walked into the end zone and wound up a half-yard short of a first down when he slid to avoid tacklers.

About the only bright spots were the play of wide receiver Calvin Johnson and some flashes of potential from rookie running back Kevin Smith.

Every big play for Atlanta featured at least two missed tackles. Head coach Rod Marinelli preaches about the basics of football, but his defenders did not wrap anyone up in the first half.

The whole team looked disorganized. Offensive players were yelling at each other and all three timeouts were burned by midway through the second quarter.

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I just have a feeling that the defense might be a little better than people expect and Roy Williams and Calvin Johnson are going to present some real problems for opposing defenses. Rod Marinelli likes to run, but it’s hard to do that on second-and-nine or third-and-eight. Williams and Johnson will get plenty of chances to shine.

I have no idea what to expect.

Granted, exhibition games are meaningless and nearly unwatchable, but I am intrigued about the changes that will be made now that it appears that coach Rod Marinelli is firmly in control.

Will his running scheme work? Is the Tampa Two defense finally taking root?

The talent level does not appear to be great, but the Lions seem to have added some character to the roster. The question is whether that will make any difference.

The young man was all set to begin his first NFL training camp. He agreed to contract terms with the Detroit Lions earlier this week. He was supposed to start practice today.

But the Army pulled the rug out from under him.

After giving Campbell a special waver to entry the NFL Draft and pursue a career as a professional football player, the Army informed the Lions at the last moment that a change in Department of Defense policy required Campbell to report for regular duty.

The Lions had to break the bad news to him. Team officials said he took it like a good soldier. He signed up to serve his country. He is ready to fulfill his commitment.

Still, you have to feel bad for him.

There must have been a lot of complaining behind the scenes that led to this about face at the last moment.

I think the decision is short-sighted by the Department of Defense. Campbell, the Lions and the Army all suffer.

In all honesty, Campbell was a longshot to make the team. He was a seventh-round draft choice. Guys drafted that low rarely make the team. But he was denied his shot. He will never know whether he could have made it or not.

The Lions have wasted a draft choice. Of course they have done plenty of that in the past, but it would have been nice if they had known before the draft that something like this might happen.

And the Army missed a great opportunity. Campbell could have done a lot more good for the Army as an NFL player than he will in active service. The Army would have gotten loads of free publicity as the media followed Campbell’s bid to make the team. And, if he had made it, he would have been invaluable as an Army recruiter.

This is a case where everyone loses.

Running back is one of the team’s weakest positions, so Thursday they release their most talented player at that position. That’s Lion logic.

Yes, Kevin Jones has been injury prone during his career. But what would it have hurt to keep him on the roster to see if he can recover from his current problem?

The move probably has something to do with cap space, but there is other dead weight on the roster that they could have sliced off.