Zac Robinson, a rookie who was claimed off waivers from the Seahawks earlier this month, is the only other quarterback on the Lions’ roster, though the team worked out former Lions J.T. O’Sullivan and Josh McCown on Monday, according to foxsports.com. — Detroit Free Press

Injured Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford told WJR radio he “might do a little bit of light throwing” this week, according to a report on foxsportsdetroit.com. Stafford hasn’t played since he injured his right shoulder in a loss to the Jets in the eighth game of the season. Lions coach Jim Schwartz told The News he is optimistic about Stafford’s recover. “When he got injured the second time, we thought that he had a chance to bounce back from it without surgery and be able to bounce back maybe a little bit quicker than he did the first time,” Schwartz said. “People compared it to spraining an ankle. The first time you sprain an ankle, it takes awhile to come back from. every subsequent time, you bounce back a little quicker.” Stafford indicated that there is no timetable for his return to game action. “It’s tough to tell,” he said. “It really is. I think I’ll know more about it at the end of this week and early next week.” Schwartz concurred that it is too early to set a timetable for Stafford’s return. — Detroit News

Even though the end result could be that his starting tailback will be at diminished capacity for two games instead of one, Lions coach Jim Schwartz defended his decision to play injured rookie Jahvid Best Sunday in Dallas. “We’re not trying to save anything for next week at all,” Schwartz said. “We’re not trying to play for next week. If a player can fill a role we’re going to have him out there. Nobody is 100 percent right now.” Best has been dealing with turf toe injuries on both of his feet since Week Three. Schwartz admitted Sunday and again on Monday that the injury was getting progressively worse. — Detroit News

It’s time to put Jim Schwartz on the clock. Schwartz is making millions of dollars to bring a winning product to the field in Detroit. It isn’t happening. When is the on-the-job training over for Schwartz? At what point as an organization or fan base do you tell the highly paid leader of your NFL team you have to win games to keep your job? The time is now, Schwartz.  Start doing things the right way on Sundays or the Lions need to go find a head coach who has been a head coach, and won trophies, to try to save this franchise. I’m tired of the weekly excuses we always get when it comes to the Lions. You don’t hear these anywhere but in Detroit and we have heard them for most of our lives. Schwartz needs to start coaching a game with reckless abandon and urgency. Start using your best player, Calvin Johnson, early in a game instead of when you’re down and desperate in the fourth quarter. … Schwartz is 4-21 as the Lions’ head coach. I see nothing from the guy on Sundays outside of being a good guy the players like. — MLive.com

The war of words with Bart Scott continued Thursday. This time, Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham fired back at the Jets linebacker who called the Lions the “dirtiest team he ever faced” last Sunday. “I don’t want this one-track pony going, ‘Oh, those Lions are dirty,’” Cunningham said. “We hit you. I told you that at the beginning of the year. We are going to hit people. We aren’t going to push you out of bounds, we’re going to hit you. If you are legal, we’re going to hit you. For him to call us dirty really ticks me off. We play tough and we play hard and we’re going to continue to do that. “Maybe if, what’s his name — Mr. Scott — maybe he will read this if you write it. I am livid. There’s no place for a player to make comments like that, or for a coach, either, and I’m not taking it, not from him. I’ve been around the horn too many times. I don’t coach dirty football and I never have.” — Detroit News

The real drama surrounds the mystery of Matthew Stafford’s injury. According to a source close to the situation, the initial tests on Stafford revealed a Grade 3 separation, which would be worse than the Grade 2 separation he suffered earlier this season. The source also said the Lions feared they might lose Stafford for the rest of the season. That information came out Tuesday and, on Wednesday, Lions coach Jim Schwartz scoffed at, well, any information period. “I addressed all of this on Monday and nothing has changed since Monday,” Schwartz said. “I said we’ll get him back as soon as we can. And any other speculation, any other rumor or anything else to do with Matt is irresponsible. Nothing’s changed since Monday, and I’m going to leave it right there.” — Booth Newspapers

According to a source close to the situation, the Detroit Lions feared that quarterback Matthew Stafford might be lost for the season when preliminary tests showed that he has a Grade 3 separation of his right shoulder. Stafford suffered the injury during the Lions’ 23-20 overtime loss to the New York Jets on Sunday at Ford Field. Stafford underwent an MRI test on Monday and it is not known if those results confirm the team’s initial findings. Stafford is also expected to seek a second opinion with Dr. James Andrews, the surgeon who consulted with Stafford after the quarterback’s first shoulder injury earlier this season. As of now, no final decisions about Stafford’s status or his future have been made. — Booth Newspapers

Chris Houston, who is in the final year of his rookie contract, said this week he is amenable to signing a long-term deal with the Lions, too, though the sides have not started negotiations. — Detroit News

They’re the consecutive games Lions offensive lineman Jeff Backus will have played come Sunday (150), which translate into the days (3,325), minutes (4,788,000) and seconds (287,280,000) since he started his first game, Sept. 9, 2001, as a rookie against the Packers. “I’ve been fortunate to avoid any major injuries,” said Backus, the starting tackle for the Lions. “I’ve played a long time. I’m not sitting here patting myself on the back about it. Obviously, it’s a cool thing, but more than anything I’ve been very fortunate to stay as healthy as I have and, hopefully, it continues.” Backus’ 149 consecutive starts are the most among active linemen in the NFL, and are tied for fifth overall. Only Hall of Fame cornerback Dick LeBeau (171) has started more consecutive games in Lions history. “He’s not flashy; he doesn’t get a lot of attention,” said Giants defensive end Justin Tuck, who’ll oppose Backus on Sunday. “But he’s a guy that just gets the job done. He’s kind of like one of those lunch-pail guys that go to work everyday regardless of fame or fortune. He goes and does his work and that’s definitely what you want.” — Detroit News

Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford continues to heal from a sprained throwing shoulder, but neither he nor coach Jim Schwartz gave any indication Monday of when Stafford might play again. “He’s making progress,” Schwartz said. “Each day that he goes out and does something, he does a little bit more.” Stafford said he would continue to test his shoulder. “I’m getting there,” Stafford said on “The Mitch Albom Show” on WJR-AM (760). “I’m still rehabbing, doing all that stuff. I’ve started throwing a little bit this week. I threw today some, and I’ll throw probably again Wednesday and Friday and see how it feels and go from there. “It feels pretty good. I wouldn’t call it 100%. I don’t feel like it did preinjury, but it’s feeling pretty good, so that’s encouraging.” — Detroit Free Press

Most Detroit Lions fans have been happy with the play of rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh. But after Suh’s finest statistical performance against the Philadelphia Eagles three weeks ago, where he racked up eight tackles and a sack, Lions coach Jim Schwartz said Suh could play better. “There’s still plays in there that he can do better,” Schwartz said. “He had a lot of tackles in this game. He got good pressure on the quarterback and had some good, physical plays.” Suh is in complete agreement with his coach’s assessment. During an interview with WDFN-AM Detroit, he labeled the start of his professional career average. “It’s an average start, but I’m definitely excited and looking forward to doing more,” Suh said. “I’ve made some good plays out there, but I’ve left some plays out there. So I think there’s a lot of work.” Suh has already registered three sacks in four games from the tackle position, but the stats don’t matter to him, especially if the Lions keeps losing. “I don’t really care for stats,” he said. “Yeah, I’ve gotten a sack in three out of the first four games, but I really care about the wins.” – Booth Newspapers

Lions QB Matthew Stafford, talking on his weekly segment on the Mitch Albom radio show on WJR, said he would try to throw this week. He said he was going to throw last week, as well. The Lions won’t say whether he did, but from the way he talked Monday, it seems this would be the first week he actually threw. “I talked to our team doctor and I talked to (specialist) Dr. James Andrews and they thought it would be a good time to try and throw a football and see how it feels,” Stafford said. When asked whether he could start throwing this week and still be ready to play Sunday, Stafford said, “We’ll see.” Detroit plays St. Louis this week, then travels to New York to face the Giants before a bye. It’s starting to feel like Stafford won’t be back until after the bye. – Detroit News

Defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham said cornerbacks don’t receive enough credit or compensation for how much pressure they face. “I don’t want to hear about the left tackle because he has a party back there with the chips by the backs and all kinds of people,” Cunningham said. “They say that guy should be the highest-paid player in the league. I think it’s a bunch of crap. “The three guys that should get paid are the quarterbacks and the corners. You’re out there on an island by yourself, 85,000 people in the stands; they see you when you screw up. To me, a corner’s got to have a heart of a lion. He’s got to keep coming back and keep fighting. — Detroit Free Press

Detroit Lions rookie defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who was fined $7,500 in the preseason for roughing up Cleveland quarterback Jake Delhomme, received a 15-yard penalty for roughing Minnesota quarterback Brett Favre in Sunday’s game. Suh said he’s not about to change his aggressive approach to hunting down quarterbacks. “I couldn’t care less about the penalties,” Suh said Wednesday. “Penalties don’t mean anything to me. Obviously, it was a mistake at that point in time. I made some good plays, I made some bad plays, and it happened to be a bad play and I got called for it. “I’m going to continue to get after the quarterback, no matter what. I may try to get at him a different way, but I’m not going to change the way I play.” — Booth Newspapers