Kitnas Stance: QB Job is Mine
ALLEN PARK -- Jon Kitna isn't looking for an official declaration on where he stands on the Lions' quarterback depth chart.
Kitna looks, acts and feels like the starter. And all signs point to Kitna having a clear lead in the competition for the starting job. He has worked with the No. 1 offense during offseason workouts, including the mandatory mini-camp that started Wednesday.
"To be honest, I'm not even thinking of it like I'm going to be anything but the starter," Kitna said. "I'm not looking at it as a quarterback competition, I'm approaching it as I'm the starter until somebody tells me different.
"I'm not every day counting my completions. I'm just going out, trying to be the best quarterback I can be."
As he spoke, there was a screech of tires, followed by the sound of two vehicles colliding on Rotunda Drive, the street that runs on the north end of the practice field. Kitna grimaced.
Not to worry. The Lions' offense has been in the bump shop for repairs almost since the day Barry Sanders retired in 1999.
Coach Rod Marinelli hired Mike Martz as offensive coordinator to overhaul the unit with an almost new cast of quarterbacks. Kitna and Josh McCown were signed as free agents. Dan Orlovsky, a rookie in 2005, is the only quarterback on the roster who was with the Lions in 2005.
Marinelli has not set a timetable for naming a starter.
"He's doing a good job," Marinelli said of Kitna. "We'll just let it play out. All of them are doing a good job right now. I feel good about them.
"I don't want to say that date and you come and say, 'You told me this is the date.' I can't do that. We're just practicing."
That is how Kitna approaches his job -- practicing as part of the process to prepare for the season.
Kitna came to the Lions after five seasons with the Bengals. He was Carson Palmer's backup the last two seasons, after three years as the starter. When he signed with the Lions, Kitna felt good about the prospect of starting again.
"The day I signed and the conversations I had with Coach Marinelli and with Coach Martz, I felt comfortable coming here," Kitna said. "From the day that I showed up, it hasn't changed. Maybe guys might be feeling more comfortable with me."
Kitna began his career in Seattle. The last two seasons, 1999 and 2000, were under Mike Holmgren. Holmgren and Martz are regarded as two of the top offensive coaches in the NFL, and both are demanding on quarterbacks.
The Holmgren experience was valuable for Kitna.
"It starts with really being kind of a genius and understanding and seeing things at a different pace and a different speed than everybody else sees them," Kitna said. "It definitely helps me understand what he's (Martz) trying to get done and understand what kind of person he is.
"This system is a great system. It's been proven over time to be very dynamic and very exciting."
The mental load can tax. In the first mini-camp in April, there were 160 pass plays. "We've had around 240 plays right now," Kitna said.
How many when training camp starts? "I don't know -- 1,000?" Kitna said.
The intensity is higher than in recent mini-camps, and the decibel count is noticeably higher from coaches yelling. There was more of that during offseason workouts that were closed to the media, Kitna said.
"Oh, yeah, probably more, actually," he said. "You guys were here. They toned it down."
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Kitnas Stance: QB Job is Mine
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