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Detroit Lions Notes And Quotes 5-18-11

--Rookie wide receiver Titus Young is learning quickly about the arm strength of quarterback Matthew Stafford.

After a player-organized workout Tuesday, he said, "My hands are a little bit sore right now. Put these in an ice bucket real quick.

"It's ridiculous, man. I would think that he had surgery to make his arm stronger, not for anything else. That's what I would think. I heard about the arm, but it's kind of like you never know what you're going to get. I just made sure that I looked it all the way in. It was just a warm-up throw and it was already there."

Comparing Stafford to Boise State quarterback Kellen Moore, Young said, "No disrespect to Kellen, but he's a left-hander and his ball comes out a little bit different that Matt. It kind of feels like a baseball player out there; a pitcher with 90 mph fastballs and things like that."

Stafford said of Young, "He's learning routes. He not running them full speed with confidence like some of our other guys because he doesn't know them yet. But some of the routes are similar to what he ran in college. He looked great and was catching the ball well and he can run and catch, which is good."

--Coach Jim Schwartz admitted he was surprised when he saw the outfit defensive tackle Nick Fairley was wearing at the draft in New York City.

With thick glasses and a bow tie, some described the defensive tackle as "looking like a nerd out of central casting."

Schwartz said he never saw Fairley's outfit until after the team had drafted him with 13th pick in the first round.

Joked Schwartz the following day, "First, if we had seen what he was wearing ... with those glasses, we might have passed on him at 13. I got more texts yesterday after we picked him that said, 'Why did you pick that big guy that looks like Urkel?'"

Getting serious, Schwartz noted that those making fun of Fairley wouldn't do it face-to-face.

"None of those people are here," Schwartz said, "and I think if they were here, none of them would say the same thing, and I know no quarterbacks said that last year."

--How does coach Jim Schwartz plan on finding enough snaps for Suh, Williams and now Fairley? "We play around 130 defensive tackle snaps a game," he said. "You rotate three guys at 45 snaps a person and you are going to be really fresh. We can keep rolling in waves and waves.

"I thought Suh played too much last year. Not that he wore down, but it was too many snaps. You are taking on 700 pounds of man every time you take on a double team."

--General manager Martin Mayhew said before the draft that based on the opinion of the team's medical staff, they were not overly concerned about the condition of Clemson defensive end Da'Quan Bowers' surgically-repaired knee. Well, most teams were. Bowers, once considered a top 15 pick, slipped all the way to 51, taken finally by Tampa. "What I said was, our doctors were not concerned about his ability to play football in the future and I think that's a fact," Mayhew said.

--WR Bryant Johnson, who had 18 catches all of last season, might be wondering about his job security after the Lions drafted Young. Said Mayhew: "Young will have an opportunity to step in and be our third (receiver). We haven't had great production from that spot the last couple of years and we think Titus is the kind of player who can solve that problem." Johnson still has one year ($3 million) left on his contract. "Any time we draft a player at somebody's position, it doesn't mean anything for that player," Mayhew said. "They should be doing what they do all the time - which is giving 100 percent effort and trying to win a position."

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