Detroit
Lions

Johnson sounded somewhat optimistic midweek that he would be able to return against the Seahawks.

"We're going to just be careful, do what I can do," Johnson said. "As long as I don't have any setbacks, I think it'll look brighter for Sunday."

Johnson said he felt no pressure to return because of the Lions' struggles on offense without him. But the Lions need him back not only because of the plays he makes, but because of how he opens up the offense for others.

"He's not just a guy that you can bump and run with because he's so big," quarterback Matthew Stafford said. "You've got to put help over the top a lot of times, and teams don't like to single him up. It changes their philosophy."

Running back Kevin Smith could use a safety out of the box. He is likely to play after leaving Sunday's game against St. Louis with a shoulder injury -- the second such problem he has had this season -- and knows he needs to produce better.

Schwartz has talked about breaking big runs. Smith's longest is 20 yards. He averages 3.1 yards per carry.

"We're all looking to kind of quiet the critics that Detroit doesn't have a running game," Smith said. "Because I get the ball first, I want to be that tempo-setter and that lead dog. I think enough's enough."

The Lions are trying to give Maurice Morris and rookie Aaron Brown a few more carries, while keeping Smith as the No. 1 back.

"We've got to, between the three of them, come up with a productive plan in the run game to win," offensive coordinator Scott Linehan said. "We haven't gotten there yet."

Smith bristled and declined to comment when asked if the coaches were increasing competition. But earlier he talked about feeling heat.

"The coaches have expectations," Smith said. "Of course you want to prove to them that you can do your thing, but the most pressure is coming from myself, because I didn't come in this league to be a bottom-list rusher. ...

"I've got to stick with it. If it's not going my way, there's two things you can do: You can give up, or you can get better. There's only one option for me."

--The Seahawks are 2-5, and folks in Seattle are squawking about ugly losses to Arizona and Dallas. Quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has struggled recently. Wide receivers T.J. Houshmandzadeh and Deion Branch have shown their displeasure in different ways.

But here come the Lions, who could make everything better, at least for a week. Seattle is a difficult place for any team to play, and the Lions have lost 15 straight road games -- not to mention 29 of their past 31 games overall. The Lions struggle against the pass, and they seem particularly vulnerable against the type of offense the Seahawks run.

The Seahawks are a West Coast team, meaning they should complete a high percentage of their passes. Hasselbeck hasn't done that so far this season. He is at only 55.9 percent. But there are reasons for that.

Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham thinks it's the broken ribs Hasselbeck had earlier this year.

"His completion percentage is way down, which is surprising," Cunningham said. "It's probably because of the injury. Usually you go 65, 70 in that offense."

Lions coach Jim Schwartz thinks it's the longer passes the Seahawks have mixed in.

"Seattle has worked some deeper routes into their concept, and they're taking more shots down the field," Schwartz said. "I think that's where you're seeing the reflection of the lower completion percentage. So they still have West Coast principles, but they also have some play-action deep balls that traditionally you're not going to complete as many."

Seattle coach Jim Mora Jr. thinks it's a poor performance against Arizona that skewed Hasselbeck's stats.

Whatever the reason, it might not matter against the Lions, who are allowing opponents to complete 70.5 percent of their passes, second-worst in the NFL. The Lions' secondary is a mess, and they don't match up well with the Seahawks' receiving corp.

The Lions have lost yet another defensive back, with Demarcus Faggins (groin) joining Daniel Bullocks (knee) and Eric King (shoulder) on injured reserve.

Will James and Phillip Buchanon likely will start at cornerback Sunday. Anthony Henry is still in the doghouse, practicing as a starter on special teams but not on defense.

But the Lions have signed a new cornerback, Jason David, and are trying to get him up to speed as quickly as possible.

"We get a new guy every week, it seems like," Cunningham said. "And it was funny, Jim asked last night or the night before: 'Has anybody talked to the new guy yet?' And both secondary coaches said: 'We met with him for five hours.'

"We're doing everything on the run. We'll see later on the week how we're going to use him."

The good news for the Lions is that they are coming off their best performance on pass defense this season. They held St. Louis quarterback Marc Bulger to 17-for-35 for 176 yards, no touchdowns and an interception.

"I think we're seeing improvement in the secondary," Schwartz said. "I think guys are learning the defense better. We've tackled better in the secondary. We had a couple incidents against the Rams where we didn't tackle well, but ... it took away from some really good efforts out there.

"Guys are settling in. We've dealt with a lot of injuries. We have a lot of IR guys from the secondary. We need to stay on that track and settle it down and move forward from the second half of the season."

SERIES HISTORY: 11th regular-season meeting. Seahawks lead series, 6-4. The Seahawks won the last meeting, 9-6, but it was a bit of a moral victory for the Lions. It was the Seahawks' first real game since playing Super Bowl XL in the Lions' home stadium, Ford Field.

The Lions have intercepted five passes, one more than last season, but still tied for 24th in the NFL this year. They have three interceptions by defensive backs, two more than last season, but still not good.

--Quarterback Matthew Stafford said he never thought about his right knee injury Sunday against St. Louis -- even while pushing off during a four-yard touchdown run -- as he returned from a two-game absence. He said he was a little more sore than usual afterward, but that was to be expected. "I had played a lot more plays than I had been playing in practice and getting hit and stuff," Stafford said. "But it wasn't terrible, and I just keep after it, getting treatment up here at the crack of dawn every day, trying to make sure it stays good."

--Linebacker Ernie Sims showed something to defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham early in the fourth quarter Sunday. "There was a series of about five or six plays where I went, 'My God, he's finally come and figured it out,' " Cunningham said. "And he knows it. I talked to him today. He felt really good about that." The Rams started a drive on their 22-yard line early in the fourth quarter. Sims made or shared the tackle on five out of the first six plays -- including one that didn't count officially because of a penalty. Then quarterback Marc Bulger threw an incomplete pass on third down, and the Rams punted. Sims led the Lions in tackles for the first time this season, with seven. "I said, 'Let's not look back anymore. You play like this the rest of the year,' " Cunningham said.

--Cunningham said several people have struggled to adjust to the new system. "This scheme thing is really baffling them all, including some of the coaches," Cunningham said. "And what people don't understand, when you're trying to build something like we are, there's a whole new philosophy in town, and there is for coaches who have never coached this thing. So it does take time. But day by day, I see it getting better, and today's practice was probably one of the better ones we've had mentally."

--Schwartz was pleased with rookie tight end Brandon Pettigrew, though he had only two catches for 17 yards Sunday against St. Louis. Pettigrew struggled badly in the Lions' previous game, Oct. 18 at Green Bay. "He didn't get a lot of opportunities in the pass game," Schwartz said. "We tried to get the ball down the field to him a couple times. They had good coverage. He wasn't able to come down with it. But he made a nice run after the catch on one, and his blocking improved significantly over the last couple of weeks. I thought he had a really good bye week, and I thought he got back on the right track last week."

--After Manny Ramirez and Daniel Loper rotated at left guard the first six games, the Lions gave Jon Jansen a shot Sunday. The veteran right tackle had never played a game at guard. He said he was average and needed to work on his pass blocking. He took two holding penalties on the Lions' last drive. Asked if he would like the coaches to judge him on more than one start, Jansen said: "You would like that, but we're at a point now where we need people to produce. ... That's a decision the coaches will have to make."

BY THE NUMBERS: 29 -- Losses for the Lions in their past 31 games. That's the worst 31-game stretch in the NFL since the 1982-84 Houston Oilers went 2-29.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Yeah, but I'm not going there for no family vacation. It's strictly business." -- RB Maurice Morris, one of four former Seahawks playing for the Lions, on if it will be good to go back to Seattle.

Left guard is another issue. The Lions tried Jon Jansen last week against St. Louis. It was his first game at guard, after playing his whole career at right tackle, and he said he needed to work on pass protection. Manny Ramirez might start in this game.

PLAYER NOTES

--RB Kevin Smith was listed as limited Friday. He likely will play Sunday at Seattle, although he's technically listed as questionable.

--WR Calvin Johnson was listed as limited again Friday, and coach Jim Schwartz said he would be a game-time decision Sunday. But Johnson seemed somewhat optimistic that he would play. He is listed as questionable.

--QB Matthew Stafford was listed as limited again Friday. He said he had more soreness than usual after returning from a right knee injury Sunday, but he said it was no big deal. He will play Sunday. He is listed as probable.

--DE Jason Hunter was listed as limited Friday. He has missed two games with an ankle injury and is listed as probable.

--DE Dewayne White was listed as limited Friday. He returned to the lineup Sunday from a hamstring injury. He is probable for Sunday

--FB Jerome Felton was listed as limited Friday with an ankle injury. He did not play Sunday and is questionable for Sunday.

--DT Grady Jackson was listed as limited Friday after sitting olut Thursday. But that has been the routine for the 36-year-old who had knee surgery in the off-season. He is probable.

GAME PLAN: The Lions likely will give up a lot of completions to the Seahawks. What they cannot do is blow assignments and miss tackles. A high completion rate won't kill them, but big plays will. On offense, they have to get the ball downfield whether Calvin Johnson plays or not. The other receivers cannot continue to drop balls the way they did last week.

MATCHUPS TO WATCH: Lions RB Maurice Morris, a former Seahawk returning to Seattle, vs. Seahawks run defense, ranked 10th in the NFL. Morris had 14 carries for 63 yards against St. Louis. That might not sound like much -- and it isn't -- but it was his best game as a Lion. He might get more work in this game. The Lions seemed like they wanted to give him more carries, and Kevin Smith has a shoulder problem.

Lions QB Matthew Stafford, who was rusty in his return from a right knee injury Sunday, vs. Seahawks pass defense, ranked 18th in the NFL. When receivers weren't dropping passes Sunday against St. Louis, Stafford was missing them. He wasn't in sync and needs to be much better in this one if the Lions are going to have a chance.