Off-field incidents piling up for Detroit Lions

After an offseason that has been tainted by a slew of bad press for the Detroit Lions, it appears as though head coach Jim Schwartz has had enough.

After defensive tackle Nick Fairley was once again arrested, this time for DUI and evading police, Schwartz has spoken out.

“I’m a lot of things with that; concerned, angry – there’s a lot of different words,” Schwartz told the media following Tuesday’s Organized Team Activity (OTA).

At least Fairley finds his second arrest amusing

Schwartz has never been one to mince words, and it seems as though he has reached a breaking point as his team’s discipline continues to dwindle.

Just two weeks ago, wide receiver Titus Young and safety Louis Delmas reportedly scuffled on the field, causing Young to miss practice all of last week.  Young has released a statement saying his absence was “necessary” and called his actions “not up to standard.”

The Fairley arrest makes five now for the Lions this offseason.  Throw in this new Young-Delmas affair and the Detroit Lions are starting to lose control of themselves.

Don’t panic, there is still good news to be found here.  Of all the incidents so far, none have involved a rookie.  The draft class of 2011 is a mess, but we already knew Fairley and Leshoure were trouble.  If Nick had produced even a little this year I might be worried about him being suspended, but the honest truth is that I won’t miss him a bit.

The class of 2012 has behaved themselves thus far, and second round pick Ryan Broyles has spoken high praise of quarterback Matthew Stafford.

“Matthew puts the ball in places I wouldn’t think a quarterback could throw it. He’s got a strong arm. He’s really poised, knows the offense, obviously, so it’s good to work with a guy like that. No matter where you are on the field, if he thinks he can get it there, he’s going to put it there. He’s got a great arm, the best ball I’ve ever seen thrown, so it’s cool working with a guy like that.”

It seems as though Broyles and Stafford have developed a nice rapport, which is a bit of good news among all the negativity.

Schwartz had downplayed his team’s lack of discipline until recently, and it finally seems he has realized that he needs to crack down on all the bad behavior.

“There’s a difference between affecting yourself and affecting your own reputation and affecting teammates and affecting the organization. That’s a line that we’ve crossed over these last two months or whatever it’s been.”