Even Jones Admits, By Elimination, Who Must Leave The Lions

Add Kevin Jones to the list of Matt Millen haters.

OK, maybe the Lions' running back doesn't hate Millen, but he used the tried and true process of elimination to indict the team's president the other day on radio, snippets of which appeared in today's Detroit Free Press.

"I would stick with (Jon) Kitna, because I think he's an adequate quarterback," Jones said during his weekly interview on WJR radio. "I don't think it's all his fault, just like when Joe (Harrington) was here it wasn't all his fault. Same story."

OK. Remove the quarterback from the list of potential prime offenders.

"I can't blame anything on the top three guys," Jones said, referring to head coach Rod Marinelli, and coordinators Mike Martz and Donnie Henderson. "Because you've got to have the talent. Whoever gets the talent in here, that's what needs to happen, because the coach is not playing -- the players are."

So Marinelli, Martz, and Henderson are absolved.

"We need some more talent basically in key positions that help you be successful."

Hmmm. I wonder who Jones might be talking about, if not for Kitna, Marinelli, Martz, or Henderson?

Now, Jones certainly doesn't have the stature, yet, in this town to have his words splashed all over, as with other Detroit athletes -- guys who when they speak, every word is hung onto. But it still says something when one of the team's presumed stars thinks the talent-procurer isn't pulling his weight.

It's also an indication that the players are, indeed, behind Marinelli, and probably at the expense of not being behind Matt Millen. I suppose you could be a proponent of both men, but it's unlikely, when one is new, and the other has been here for six seasons.

Do I think Kevin Jones has a problem with Matt Millen as a person? No. Frankly, I don't think even some of the most fervent "Fire Millen" people think the prez is a bad guy -- just a lousy president. But being a nice guy doesn't get it done. Owner Bill Ford Sr., for example, has been lauded for years for being one of the "nicest owners in the NFL." Great. It's also code for "blindly loyal" and "stubbornly refuses to admit his mistakes."

Ford should very nicely show Millen the door. Even I, a past supporter of the prez, has come to realize that that must happen at the end of this season.

With Jones' remarks on radio, the players are starting to officially go on record as saying the talent procurement has been less than stellar, and must improve. It ain't the fault of the new coaching regime, or the new QB, Kevin Jones says.

So who does that leave, really?