Lions looking to establish more attitude in preseason

ALLEN PARK, Mich. - Hitting the field for their first test since their first playoff appearance since 1999, the Lions looked noticeably, admittedly flat in their preseason opener to the Browns.

"We can't be too relaxed off of the playoffs that we made," said cornerback Chris Houston. "We've got to approach preseason and establish that attitude. That's the biggest message coach got across."

Houston said that the Lions need to treat preseason like the elite teams in the NFL treat it.

"It's just like other teams, Pittsburgh or Baltimore, those type of team defenses  - preseason they want to go out there and give that attitude and let it be known they're out there," Houston said.

Head coach Jim Schwartz said that the team needs to try to get better every day, but isn't reading too much into anyone's performance from Friday - good or bad.

"Every step along the way you should be a little bit better as you gear towards your opener," said Schwartz. "I don't know if we put a whole lot into it other than just trying to be a little bit better today than we were yesterday."

Despite Schwartz's hesitancy to read too much into his team's performance a couple of guys who turned heads on Friday are looking to build off of their strong start to the season.

"I had some good plays, but also I had some plays in the gray area," defensive end Willie Young said. "I try to play at the level that [Kyle Vanden Bosch] plays at because you don't see no one, in the history of the NFL, who plays with the motor that guy has."

Cornerback Bill Bentley, coming off a strong debut, said he tries to stay consistent throughout camp to keep improving.

"It's just all about going out and being consistent," Bentley said. "It's all about just being solid, knowing your assignment, executing your assignment and just contributing to the team."

Amari Spievey returned to the practice field today, and Schwartz said the team wanted to err on the side of caution given his history with concussions.