It started with some responses on Twitter and turned into a half-hour long podcast with Jeff Moss of DetroitSportsRag.com, but former Detroit Lions defensive lineman Lawrence Jackson had a lot to say about Jim Schwartz and the Detroit Lions on Wednesday.
Jackson was responding to comments made by Green Bay offensive lineman Josh Sitton on Tuesday night calling the Detroit Lions defense "dirtbags" and "scumbags" and calling Schwartz "a d---."
I don't disagree with him about Jim, but the other stuff...it's sharks in the water...if you don't want any problems...protect your QB...
— Lawrence Jackson (@LoJackson94) November 27, 2013
Jackson, who was with the Lions for three seasons from 2010 to 2012, recording 80 tackles and 13 sacks, then responded to followers on Twitter about what he thought of Sitton's comments, Schwartz and the Lions in general. This led to a podcast with Moss and really, just another day in the land of the Lions.
Here are some of his other comments from Twitter:
“@sanman20: @LoJackson94 what do you have against Jim?” I don't have anything against him. I just don't have a ton of respect for him.
— Lawrence Jackson (@LoJackson94) November 27, 2013
@sanman20 not everyone is held to the same standard and things are done because he wants to do them not because they're good for the team.
— Lawrence Jackson (@LoJackson94) November 27, 2013
@BigRed6810 his attitude is different. There's only one Bill Belichick. There's a lot to being honest and doing whatever it takes to win.
— Lawrence Jackson (@LoJackson94) November 27, 2013
Some of the highlights from the podcast, which one can listen to in its entirety here:
Jackson said he felt the sacrifices he made for the team were "overlooked," especially when the Lions signed Jason Jones in the offseason. He was concerned about loyalty Schwartz had to other players.
Jackson also questioned some of the team's moves between the 2011 and 2012 seasons: "Going into the year after the playoff run, the thing was from good to great and he brought up a clip from 'Mad Men' that talked about that. But as players there was a lot of questions about why didn’t we bring in any free agents? Why didn’t we necessarily draft guys that would help us right away and get us over the hump? Different things like that. As players you see how the team is right now and where you need help and we really made no improvements from the playoff year to the next year. You have to realize that year we started off 5-0 but I don’t believe we beat a winning team."
He also said he never heard the coaches challenge quarterback Matthew Stafford in meetings in the three years he was there. "I’ve never heard them challenge Stafford in a team meeting at all. Other people were challenged, things like that, but I never heard him being challenged. There was a lot of mistakes that he made. He’s a good quarterback and he can throw the ball really well and obviously having Calvin [Johnson] makes his job a lot easier. But you have to hold people accountable. I don’t know what was going on."
As mentioned above, the entire interview is pretty interesting and revealing. It is worth a listen.