ALLEN PARK >> The season is not over. One loss does not mean that the Lions nine wins are for naught. That was the basis of coach Jim Caldwell’s message on Monday after his Detroit Lions lost to the Giants 17-6 on Sunday.
The Lions (9-5) now are focused on the Cowboys (12-2), the opponent on Monday night at Dallas.
PHOTOS OF LIONS LOSS TO GIANTS
Here are five highlights from Caldwell’s Monday press conference:
1. Adversity is no stranger to winning teams. Caldwell recalled the 2012 Baltimore Ravens (he was offensive coordinator). They lost four of their last five games in the regular season and then went on to win the Super Bowl. “There’s usually always some adversity in there. You’ve got the right kind of people, the right kind of men, they’ll come together and fight their way through it and get better. That’s kind of the path we’re on right now,” Caldwell said.
2. He pays little attention to the media and fans on what is typically referred to as “Overreaction Monday.” “I do know what my priority is, is making certain how our team views it. Still one game, one ballgame. We’ve just got to come together, get better this week and go and play the next one,” Caldwell said. “That’s the key, that’s how it always is. And I think simply because of the popularity of our sport and those kinds of things, you’re going to have some ups and downs if you take a look at everything that’s being written and said.”
3. With two wins the Lions could win the division title for the first time in 23 years. “I’m not concerned about any of that. I’m not concerned about looking even if it’s another game ahead. I’m looking right straight forward at the team that we have to face, that’s our focus,” Caldwell said. “I think our guys understand that probably as well as anybody now, they have a real good sense of that. So we don’t have to worry about them that much, and we’ve just got to focus on getting better.”
4. This week of preparation is no different than any other week. Caldwell’s message, which the players have bought into, is just look to the next game. He puts a little oomph in the one game at a time cliche. “It would be different if you were 5-9, perspective would be a little bit different. That’s not where we are,” Caldwell said. “Oftentimes we’ve won several games in a row, we’ve had a streak going. We hit one bump in the road, there’s a lot of teams that have that. But it’s what you do after that, is what counts. That’s what our focus is on, the next game.”
5. Darius Slay injured his hamstring in the loss. If he can’t go, next man up even though there are no cornerbacks are the roster as talented as Slay. “We’ve had situations where we’ve had a lot of guys that got banged up this year. I think it’s kind of like an old Shakespearian term, I think Shakespeare said it, he said that often sorrows come, they don’t come as a single spy they come in battalions,” Caldwell said. “There’s been times where we’ve had battalions throughout the year, in terms of problems and issues but our guys have always hung in there, they’ve always focused and they’ve always been able to overcome whatever the odds are. We’re going to approach this, if he can’t play, just like we do when (Travis) Swanson couldn’t go, you know, it’s the next guy steps up and the next guy’s expected to do his job, so that’s the way we’ll roll from here on out and always have.”
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