Caldwell Says Lions Have To Be 'Brutally Honest' With Broyles
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Detroit Lions head coach Jim Caldwell responded Monday to a tweet by wide receiver Ryan Broyles, who posted shortly after Sunday's win against the Minnesota Vikings that "It's tough to keep a smile on your face when you feel like u are being held back ..."
Caldwell said he had not read the tweet, but he noted that only Broyles could clarify the intent of the message.
"It's kind of the way you interpret it," Caldwell said at his weekly press conference Monday. "If you look at overall his tweets through the years, he's a guy that believes in motivation, and he'll send things out that I think you can take it a number of different ways. It just so happened the timing of that particular tweet you can take it one way or the other, and you'll have to ask him for his direct intention, but overall, I think things like that, guys do express themselves, but I think for the most part, that's the world in which we live in. We talk about those issues and that kind of stuff, but they typically are things where guys are just voicing their opinion."
Caldwell said that players can come to coaches if they have a problem with how they are being used by the team. Caldwell also said the team needs to make sure it communicates well enough with players that they understand why the situation is what it is.
"It's my responsibility to make certain guys know that if they're feeling a little bit uncomfortable where they are, where they line up, what their position is, how they play in terms of their role, they should come and talk to one of the assistant coaches, then to the coordinator and then to me," Caldwell said. "Even my door is always open. We have an open-door policy, and I think you'll find that not to be the norm with this particular group, but nevertheless, that's as much our issue as it is his, that we've got to make certain that he understands where he is, why he is where he is and cover that clearly, as brutally honest as we can be."
Caldwell said he has not yet had such a chat with Broyles, a former second-round pick, who has been targeted just twice in the three games in which he has played this season. Beyond the team's top two wide receivers, Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate, the Lions have not had much production from the passing game. Johnson and Tate account for 843 receiving yards, while the next two on the list, Jeremy Ross and Corey Fuller, have combined for 220 yards.
"A lot of that is not because of the fact of the receivers," Caldwell said. "There's a lot of factors involved in that. It kind of all boils down to the same thing. Our passing game has been not as productive as we'd like to see it, and it's not as productive as you're going to see it. It's just like the question was asked about getting the tight ends more involved; when it's not working well, there's going to be a lot of things that you could suggest. It's our job to try to get it right, and that's what we're working on."
