Lions Injury Report Dec 30 Plus Caldwell on the Officiating

The Detroit Lions (9-6) hosts Green Bay (9-6) in a Week 17 matchup to decide the NFC North. The Lions fell to Dallas on Monday night 21-42, while Green Bay defeated Minnesota 38-25 in Week 16. Sunday’s primetime clash marks the 173rd all-time meeting between these division rivals, as Green Bay holds the edge in the series 97-68-7. The Packers won the teams’ first meeting of the 2016 season 34-27 in Week 3 at Lambeau Field, while Detroit has won two of the last three meetings at Ford Field (2013, 2014).

INJURY REPORT

• The following players have been listed on the Detroit Lions Injury Report today: RB Theo Riddick (wrist) did not participate in practice; LB DeAndre Levy (knee), WR Andre Roberts (shoulder), CB Darius Slay (hamstring) and C Travis Swanson (concussion) were limited in practice; S Miles Killebrew (eye) and QB Matthew Stafford (right finger) participated in full practice. GAME STATUS: Riddick is out; Swanson is doubtful; Levy, Roberts and Slay are questionable.

• The following players have been listed on the Green Bay Packers Injury Report: WR Randall Cobb (ankle), and RB James Starks (concussion) did not participate in practice; T Bryan Bulaga (shoulder), LB Jayrone Elliott (hand), G T.J. Lang (foot), CB Damarious Randall (shoulder), LB Joe Thomas (back) and C/G JC Tretter (knee) were limited in practice; CB LaDarius Gunter (elbow), LB Clay Matthews (shoulder), RB Christine Michael (not injury related), LB Julius Peppers (not injury related), LB Nick Perry (hand) and QB Aaron Rodgers (calf) participated in full practice. GAME STATUS: Starks is out; Cobb, Elliott, Randall, Thomas and Tretter are questionable.

LIONS HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL
On how much research he does on the officiating crew assigned to his game: “We know who they are. We kind of know what the tendencies are in terms of the calls they make and those kinds of things, which you would expect. We look at all of that information. What I tell our guys is we really don’t worry about all that stuff. If you do what you’re supposed to do, you play by the rules the way they are set, we’re going to be fine. So we don’t spend a whole lot of time in that area. We look at things we can control. We can’t control the minds of the officials.”

On if he is proud of the way his players have responded to officiating mistakes this season: “Yeah, absolutely, because I think that’s the right thing to do. You can cry and bellyache and complain and whine, all of the things that keep you losing. You can do all of that stuff if you want to. I believe we have little time for that. You better start thinking about the next play or the next game or whatever it might be and it’ll serve you well. Let’s control the things that we can control.”

On the game captains against Green Bay: “(Matthew) Mulligan offense, Don Carey special teams, Haloti (Ngata) on defense.”