08-10-2007, 12:28 PM
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#1 (permalink)
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Momma McNabb
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Jeffy's house
Posts: 12,476
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All QB's recieve kudos from Marinelli
Quote:
DETROIT -- All in all, not bad.
"I think all three quarterbacks did a good job tonight, and they all competed," Lions coach Rod Marinelli said Thursday after a 27-26 exhibition victory over the Bengals at Ford Field. "We wanted to come out with our first offense especially and see if we could start our run game."
Jon Kitna took 12 snaps, then gave way to J.T. O'Sullivan and Dan Orlovsky. O'Sullivan was 12-of-19 passing for 225 yards, with one touchdown and one interception. Orlovsky was 15-of-23 for 220, and an interception.
But he did throw two scoring passes, including a 7-yarder to Kevin Kasper with 1:55 left to win the game. The other also was in the fourth quarter, a 5-yarder in the back of the end zone to Ronald Bellamy, a former Michigan receiver, with 6:53 left.
It took him 10 seconds to throw.
"The offensive line did a great job," Orlovsky said. "They get more credit for holding their blocks for 10 seconds. Ron, scraping the end zone, knowing really how to play football. That's the least- protected part of the end zone, a play like that at the back."
O'Sullivan, meanwhile, was upbeat about his deep passes.
"I think it's a fun offense for a quarterback," he said. "As far as individual performance, it's just a matter of getting more and more comfortable in a new system and going from there."
His score was an 83-yarder to Shaun McDonald that got the Lions within 9-7 with 6:30 until halftime.
"I can definitely improve a lot," O'Sullivan said.
"It's coming, but it's just a matter of getting time in the (play)book and getting more and more comfortable with the verbiage to give me more advantage on the line of scrimmage and just being comfortable knowing exactly where the ball needs to go."
Orlovsky replaced O'Sullivan with 7:20 left in the third quarter. With 10:16 to go, his pass was intercepted by tackle Matt Toeaina and run back 81 yards for a touchdown.
"(I was) just talking to God," Orlovsky said. "I was like, 'Man, how can that happen?' I just talked to coach (offensive coordinator Mike Martz) and honestly talked to God and said, 'Stay focused, Dan.' I just asked those guys up front, really, because that's where it all happened, I said, 'Guys, just keep fighting for me.' "
Marinelli said he was disappointed by the three turnovers but was happy with the way his team rebounded, scoring 17 fourth-quarter points.
"If you go out and play one snap at a time and you have a bad play, if you can let it go and now keep playing the game," he said. "Don't look at the scoreboard. Just keep playing, and good things are going to happen for us.
"I think all three guys keep continually strengthening," Marinelli said, including Kitna. "Every guy out here that does well and competes is strengthened. J.T. did some nice things -- all of them did."
Orlovsky and O'Sullivan know they're going for the backup job.
"I'm not really thinking about that," Orlovsky said about getting the No. 2 spot.
"I know that coach has a duty as the coach of this team to put the team in the best situation. He's going to make the decision that's best for this team. My job is not to worry about what's J.T. doing or what's Jon doing. I really need to focus on me. No one gets handed a job in this league."
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All QBs earn kudos from Marinelli
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All QB's recieve kudos from Marinelli
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