Mercifully, Lions Spare Backup Stanton Embarrassment of Actually Playing in Game

Here's what I take away from this headline, "Lions' Colletto Won't 'Embarrass' Drew Stanton by Playing Him," in today's Detroit Free Press: The coaching staff hates Dan Orlovsky and actively seeks to embarrass him by playing him. Because, really, what other reason would there be to trot him out there week after painstaking week?

I know, I know, it's not like Detroit has a roster full of competent quarterbacks, and even before Jon Kitna was (wrongly?) put on injured reserve, there was an argument that Orlovsky should get a shot at the full-time gig.

Be careful what you ask for, I guess. Whatever, it's Orlovsky's job for the foreseeable future, most recently reinforced by the club's decision to pass on Daunte Culpepper (for now, anyway).

In the meantime, Stanton should get comfortable standing on the sidelines come Sunday afternoons.

The experiment to throw him in there right now wouldn't be fair to him at this point," Colletto said.

Why?

"Well, he's not ready to do that yet," Colletto said. "I'm not going to embarrass the kid just to prove a point to somebody else."

Oh, you mean like Matt Millen did with Joey Harrington in 2002? Good idea.

Stanton, the team's 2007 second-round pick, is making progress, however. When he arrived, he couldn't even throw a spiral -- at least according to Mike Martz -- and now Stanton has almost mastered one of the most basic skills for any quarterback. Commence with the long overdue back-patting, Lions coaching staff.

Still, there's much work to be done:

Colletto said Stanton is throwing the ball way better than he ever has, but he is still far behind Dan Orlovsky, a fifth-round pick in 2005. Orlovsky has made only three NFL starts, but he has had years' more practice time.

It's not ideal, but it's progress. And that's a start.