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The numbers are, frankly, staggering.

Detroit has the best third-down defense in the NFL, yielding conversions just 21.3 percent of the time this season.

Even Lions coach Jim Schwartz was impressed with that number.

“We certainly spent a lot of time on third down and we want to get off the field on third down,” Schwartz said Monday. “It’s just the rate we’re going at now is pretty tough to sustain.

“We have guys that rush. We have some guys in the back end that can get the ball. We have some guys that have played pretty smart and matched up routes. I think the combination of the two, we have blitzed from time-to-time I think that’s been effective when we have.”

Third down defense is merely one reason why Detroit is 3-1. Here are some other interesting numbers contributing to the Lions’ 40-32 win Sunday over the Bears. Statistics and figures from ESPN Stats & Information were used in compiling this post. Follow ESPN Stats & Information on Twitter @ESPNStatsInfo

121 -- Yards gained by Reggie Bush on Sunday between the tackles.

81 -- Percentage of Bush’s rushes this season between the tackles, at 5.7 yards gained per rush.

8.9 -- Average yards needed for a first down for Chicago on third downs Sunday.

1 -- Third downs converted by Chicago on Sunday in 13 attempts.

9.8 -- percent of the time Detroit blitzed Jay Cutler on Sunday, the lowest blitz percentage in the NFL last week.

5 -- Targets to wide receivers other than Calvin Johnson (Johnson had 10).

20 -- Targets to Detroit’s running backs and tight ends.

2.36 -- Points per offensive drive for Detroit.

28.4 -- Average yards gained per drive for the Lions. This is somewhat skewed because the Lions only had an average of 57.1 yards to go for a touchdown Sunday.

46.7 -- Percentage Chicago went three-and-out on Sunday against Detroit.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz scoffed at the notion former Chicago Bears defensive lineman Israel Idonije tipped off defensive line calls to his new team, the Lions on Sunday.

The Lions allowed only one sack and rushed for 159 yards in their 40-32 win over Chicago.

“Yeah, I really think that’s ridiculous,” Schwartz said. “I think it takes away from the players on the field. We rushed for a lot of yards because we blocked them and Reggie Bush broke tackles and things like that.

“To say Reggie Bush is eight yards behind the quarterback and that he can hear what I line call is, you know, I think that’s ridiculous.”

Idonije played the past nine seasons for the Bears before coming to Detroit in the offseason. Chicago changed coaching staffs after last season, replacing Lovie Smith with Marc Trestman.

“I think they had a good game plan for us in the run game. They have Israel Idonije over there, who was a long time player for us, and who also happens to really know our defense,” Chicago safety Chris Conte said Sunday. “So they really had a great scheme going. But we just have to have a better effort individually. That’s all there is to it.”

At least one Bears player told ESPN.com’s Michael C. Wright that Detroit broke a lot of its biggest runs when the Bears called a “power” stunt, switching their routes to try and mess with the offensive line.

On 97.1 The Ticket on Monday evening, Idonije addressed the Bears' claims.

"I have two thoughts. First, it just says a lot about the preparation and execution of our offense to go out there and just to be able to deliver and dominate that defense the way they did such that they thought, 'They're getting some sort of inside information because they're executing so efficiently,'" Idonije said according to MLive. "Secondly, I'm a Detroit Lion, so there is no such thing as insider information. This is my team; this is my family."

Detroit and Chicago play again at Soldier Field on Nov. 10.

DETROIT -- Detroit Lions receiver Kris Durham covered up an onside kick return when he got hit in the back, defenseless.

After Detroit’s 40-32 win against Chicago on Sunday, Durham’s coach, Jim Schwartz, defended his receiver and took issue with player safety rules.

“Kris Durham made a couple big plays at the end and probably no bigger than recovering the last onside kick. He took a big shot for it, too,” Schwartz said. “I still can’t believe, we talk a lot about player safety and things like that and he’s laying prone on the ground and giving himself up and takes a helmet right to the back and we don’t get any call there.

“It’s a little hypocritical to talk about player safety when we allow that to not get called. Kris toughed it out and had to hold on to that ball and he did. He did a nice job today.”

Durham was hit on the play by Chicago Bears linebacker Jonathan Bostic.

Durham, who saw more snaps in place of injured wide receiver Nate Burleson, had three catches for 58 yards against Chicago.

Sunday’s game between the Detroit Lions and Chicago Bears has some major implications for both teams a month into the season.

A Chicago win would give the Bears a two-game lead over the rest of the division. If Detroit wins, it would share the early lead with Chicago and give the Lions a potential edge in important tiebreakers when it comes to division titles and potential wild-card berths.

For Detroit, it is a chance for a rare win against the Bears. Chicago has won nine of its past 10 games against the Lions.

ESPN Bears reporter Michael C. Wright and ESPN Lions reporter Michael Rothstein break down some of the keys to the game.

Rothstein: Let’s start here. Chicago has won nine of the past 10 in this series. Is there any sense of overconfidence in the Chicago locker room, or has the Lions' start really kept that down?

Wright: Not at all because the Bears know they could be 0-3 as easily as they became 3-0. Remember, Jay Cutler led the Bears on back-to-back late comebacks to start the season, and they almost let Sunday’s game in Pittsburgh get away from them. So they know how fortunate they are to be the only undefeated team in the division, and they’re not taking the fast start for granted because, remember, just last season the Bears started off 7-1 only to lose five of their last eight to miss the playoffs. This game is essentially for first place in the NFC North. What’s the feeling in the Lions' locker room with such a high-stakes game coming up and the team coming off a big road win at Washington?

Rothstein: That it is early in the season. The players have stressed the importance of divisional games in the past, as has their coach, Jim Schwartz. But the truth is, this game would be a huge deal for Detroit if it won. It would give the Lions early control of the division and a two-game winning streak heading into a place they haven’t won in a long time -- Green Bay. There is definitely confidence in this group and the feeling that it can make enough plays to win games. That said, this is the first time Detroit will see the Bears under new coach Marc Trestman. How much different do the Bears look?

Wright: Chicago definitely features more diversity with formations on offense than it did a year ago, but don’t expect anything elaborate or mind-boggling in terms of actual play calls. Trestman and the offensive staff have been adept at finding weak spots in opposing defenses and drawing up the plays that will work best given the matchup. The biggest difference you’ll see is the improvement in protection, and the fact that Cutler now spreads the ball to other receivers as opposed to relying solely on Brandon Marshall. Because of the improved protection, running back Matt Forte no longer has to stay in and chip-block, and that frees him up to get out on pass routes. So Forte is another weapon for Cutler, as is Martellus Bennett, Marshall and Alshon Jeffery. If teams take away Marshall, Cutler now has plenty of options in the passing game. In the past, the Lions’ front four has given Chicago problems. How potent is Detroit’s defensive line this year with guys like Ziggy Ansah, Nick Fairley and Ndamukong Suh in the mix?

Rothstein: This group might be the most talented and deepest in the NFL. Suh is having a standout season, even if he isn’t putting up big numbers. His pressure of opposing quarterbacks has forced two interceptions in three games. Plus, the attention that opposing offensive lines place on blocking Suh opens things up for Fairley, Ansah and Willie Young. Ansah has 2.5 sacks and has a high-level speed burst for a defensive end. All of the linemen complement each other well, and that forms a highly productive unit. The biggest key there is the four linemen can pressure quarterbacks on their own, and that allows defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham to scheme differently than normal in the back seven. The Bears appear to have done a good job protecting Cutler this year, at least statistically. Now they face one of the toughest defensive lines in the NFL. What's the strategy for holding up there?

Wright: Chicago showcased its new offense in Week 1 against a formidable Cincinnati Bengals defensive line and didn't allow a sack, and the protection held up well Sunday night against a blitzing Pittsburgh front seven. So the Bears feel they’re battle-tested in terms of protection, and obviously a major component of the success they’ve experienced on the offensive line is new additions such as left guard Matt Slauson, rookies Kyle Long and Jordan Mills on the right side and tight end Martellus Bennett. Schematically, the Bears aid the protection with a faster, more rhythmic passing attack with drops designed to get the ball quickly out of Cutler’s hands. The Lions lost defensive end Jason Jones to a season-ending knee injury, so who’s the next man up, and what does he bring to the table?

Rothstein: It’ll likely be a combination of players, but the immediate answers are veterans Young and Israel Idonije, along with rookie Devin Taylor. Young is having a productive season with 10 tackles, a sack and the ability to pressure the quarterback. Bears fans should be familiar with Idonije, who played in Chicago the past nine seasons. Taylor is the question mark. He’s best known for lining up as the defensive end opposite Jadeveon Clowney at South Carolina, but he is extremely athletic and could be a matchup problem if he can get over his inexperience. Shifting to Chicago’s defense, working with the assumption Reggie Bush plays Sunday, how would you anticipate Chicago defending the Lions?

Wright: The Bears won’t deviate from playing their standard 4-3 over front, where the focus is penetration and gap control. Bush is certainly a dynamic threat on the edges in the passing game, but the Bears probably won’t experience much difficulty handling him because they’ve dramatically improved the athleticism of the linebacking corps with the additions of James Anderson and D.J. Williams to play alongside Lance Briggs. So they won’t put in any new wrinkles. If anything, the Bears will probably just focus more this week on defending the screen game, and accomplishing that task will also involve the club’s athletic defensive linemen such as Julius Peppers. Bush said he could’ve played against the Redskins. What’s the latest on his injury situation, and what does he add to Detroit’s offense?

Rothstein: I would be very surprised if Bush did not play Sunday -- especially now that wide receiver Nate Burleson is out for the foreseeable future. The Lions' offense is just so much different with Bush in the lineup -- whether he lines up in the backfield, out wide or in the slot. His ability to accelerate out of screens, dump-off passes and if he gets a small crease in the backfield is a skill few players in the NFL have. That Detroit has him along with the league’s best overall wide receiver in Calvin Johnson offers a tough matchup to defend when both are healthy. One of Chicago’s biggest playmakers is Devin Hester. Is he returning to early career form in that area, or was that more of a coverage issue by opponents?

Wright: Hester isn’t thinking as much, and he’s a fresher player than in years past because he’s no longer playing receiver, which has allowed him to focus solely on duties as a return man. Shortly after Trestman took the head-coaching job, Hester indicated to the coach a desire to focus solely on special teams. From there, Trestman said he “was all in” with the move. Hester no longer spends time during the week in offensive meetings with the receivers. The club has allowed him to concentrate exclusively on contributing as a special-teamer, and that’s paid dividends. Detroit’s biggest playmaker is Calvin Johnson. Given all the attention teams give him, how important has it been for the Lions to diversify distribution of the ball in the passing game?

Rothstein: It has been key, although it’ll be interesting to see how that changes now that Burleson is out. The obvious option is receiver Ryan Broyles, who played for the first time this season against Washington this past weekend. He is almost definitely going to receive more snaps and more targets. The other option could be an increased role for tight ends Joseph Fauria and Tony Scheffler. They both have receiving skills for tight ends, and at 6-foot-7, Fauria has already turned into an enticing red zone target. Now he may end up on the field in more than just scoring situations.

 

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Ken Sarnoff, the agent for wide receiver Nate Burleson, tweeted Wednesday afternoon that his client's surgery to repair the broken radius and ulna in his left forearm went well.

Burleson broke the bones in a single-car accident early Tuesday morning on Interstate 696 in Farmington Hills, Mich., when he hit a center median as he was trying to stop a pizza box from sliding off of the seat.

@Nate13Burleson --- Surgery went well. More to come...

— Ken Sarnoff (@KenSarnoff) September 25, 2013

Burleson was Detroit's leader in receptions with 19 at the time of the accident.

ESPN football insider Ed Werder reported Burleson's surgery began around 1:30 p.m. A team source told Werder the surgery was to repair two clean breaks in Burleson's forearm.

Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz said Tuesday the team does not plan on placing Burleson on injured reserve because there is hope he could return before the end of the season. A team source told Werder that Burleson hopes to return in November and that he could be with his teammates on Detroit's sideline Sunday against Chicago.

The Lions could not place him on short term injured reserve, though, because they had already designated that slot to backup running back and special teams player Montell Owens before the first week of the season.

Detroit has multiple options to use in Burleson's place, including receiver Ryan Broyles and the possibility of either running back Reggie Bush or tight ends Joseph Fauria or Tony Scheffler in more slot and wide receiver roles.

Good morning and ROOOOOAAAARRR!!!!

Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz went into full-on "Sunday is no more important than any other Sunday game against a divisional opponent" mode Monday during his weekly press conference as the team began preparing to face the Chicago Bears.

Schwartz has to do that, in some respect. He's still dealing with a team not used to winning, not used to playing in these types of games on this level. And in the reality of a long season, where one significant injury this early can alter so much, Schwartz has a point when the season isn't a month old.

But a victory Sunday provides a small amount of separation in what could be a tight NFC North.

"That would be the same in Week 9, that would be the same in Week 2. They’re all great opportunities," Schwartz said. "I’m certainly not downplaying the importance of any game, but we treat them all with respect. We want to win every single one. I talk about NFC games, because when you do get to the end of the year, that’s one of the tiebreakers. I think I’ve been very candid about how I feel about some things that don’t have anything to do with tiebreakers.

"NFC North games mean an awful lot, because No. 1, it’s a chance for you to win a game, but No. 2, it’s a chance to put a loss on one of your opponents without having somebody else have to help you do it. They’re certainly important. I’m not up here to tell you it’s not."

But this game, with this team, seems to have the feeling of a breakthrough -- if the Lions able to pull it off.

And now, with that in mind, a look around the Interwebs at what's written about the Lions:

Our coverage from Monday starts with Joey Fatone and Joseph Fauria. A look at numbers from Sunday's win and an overall review. Rookie watch, and perhaps another one to pay attention to -- Devin Taylor. As for Reggie Bush this Sunday? Schwartz says "we'll see."

Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press writes that Schwartz isn't concerned, for now, about first place.

Josh Katzenstein of the Detroit News writes the Lions should start Joique Bell over Bush. And Andre Fluellen is back for tour No. 4 with the Lions.

Kyle Meinke of MLive writes that running back Mikel Leshoure -- remember him? -- just isn't in Detroit's plans.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Devin Taylor has been active for one game and been in on three plays in his NFL career.

Now, he’s going to potentially play a lot more.

Twice in the past 24 hours, Detroit coach Jim Schwartz has mentioned the rookie as the main possibility to replace Jason Jones, who is out for the season after tearing the patellar tendon in his left knee against Washington on Sunday.

Jones was officially placed on injured reserve Monday, according to the Lions.

Looking to Taylor, though, will come after Detroit figures out how it wants to use fellow rookie Ziggy Ansah and veteran Willie Young. That duo has been among Detroit’s top defensive linemen.

“We’ve got a lot of different ways,” Schwartz said. “I think I even said [Sunday] that we’re going to lean on Devin Taylor also there. Devin has a lot of the same things that we liked about Jason. We like in Devin.

“He played well at times in the preseason but he needs to grow up quickly. It’s no different than anybody else being a young player in the league. You’ve got to perform.”

It’s an interesting spot for Taylor, who might be best known for playing on the opposite side of All-American defensive end Jadeveon Clowney last season at South Carolina. Much like his still-in-college counterpart, Taylor possesses freak athleticism.

The 6-foot-7 Taylor won the South Carolina state triple jump title by leaping 48 feet, 3 inches. Not surprisingly, he also played high school basketball.

With the Gamecocks, he had 18.5 career sacks, 161 tackles and intercepted two passes. He returned both interceptions for touchdowns.

The Lions drafted him in the fourth round in April, in part to develop as a replacement for the three defensive ends that left following last season. Now, he’ll be in a position to play a lot early in his career.

Detroit also has brought defensive tackle Andre Fluellen in for the fourth time. The Lions initially drafted Fluellen in the third round of the 2008 draft and then released him on Aug. 31, 2012. They re-signed him on Dec. 12, 2012, and then brought him back again on July 26. He was cut again last month before the Lions chose to bring him back Monday.

LANDOVER, Md. -- The Detroit Lions knew their history here, even if the team says it didn’t talk about it or didn’t want to admit to it. The Lions knew they had never won in Washington, D.C.

They knew that if this season was going to be unlike all of the others in the team’s history, so many seasons that ended in losing records and no playoff appearances, a win on Sunday would be a massive push to eliminating that talk.

Detroit coach Jim Schwartz tossed his headset after the Lions beat the Washington Redskins, 27-20, something the franchise he coaches had never done before. All day, there seemed to be a little more emotion in spurts, why this became kind of a big deal for the Lions.

For the first time in a long time, Detroit can say it did something it has legitimately never done before.

“That was a tough, hard-fought game. Of course we’re going to be excited for it,” Schwartz said. “But we didn’t carry a banner here that said, ‘Remember that we never won in Washington.’

“We don’t dwell in the past.”

Dwelling in the past, though, is something the Detroit Lions have always seemed to do. To the days of Barry Sanders and having the most electrifying player in football and one of the best running backs of all time.

Dwelling in the past is what happens in Detroit, when streaks of road losses to some teams that span decades -- or in Washington’s case, forever prior to Sunday -- are somewhat commonplace.

And dwelling in the past is both a trademark of the Lions and something they want to avoid, depending on who you ask. Ask a fan? It’s a big deal. Ask a coach? Not as much, at least publicly. Same with the players, because the majority of them haven’t been around for all of the historic losing.

And yes, this is one game against a still-winless Washington team, but it is the symbolism that is important here. The slow chipping away at a past full of mediocrity.

“Fortunately and unfortunately when you play for the Lions, you’ve got to be a part of exorcising a lot of demons,” receiver Nate Burleson said. “And I’m OK with that. I’m doing it. I’m fine with the storylines behind every single game.

“A lot of people look at it as something we don’t need to embrace, but that’s what it is. Football is the biggest soap opera in sports. As long as we keep playing the way we’re playing, I’m good. We’re hitting the reset button on certain streaks that we don’t need to hold on to anymore.”

That’s the key. Anymore.

If Detroit is going to follow up stopping one streak with a successful season, with finishing with a winning record for only the second time this century, the Lions will need to use this as a springboard.

Next week is Chicago, and the Bears have won three straight games in the series. Then is the trip to Green Bay, and the Lions have not beaten the Packers the past 22 times they’ve played them in the state.

So yes, this is one day, one game, one streak vanquished. But if Burleson and the Lions are serious about doing what they want to do, of winning and reversing the long path this franchise has followed, beating Washington in Washington was a start.

“It’s more so for fans than it is us,” Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford said. “Honestly, we didn’t talk about it one time. I didn’t know it until you guys said it.

“But it does feel nice to be on the team, be a part of that team that broke that streak, and hopefully we can start a new streak of our own winning up here.”

LANDOVER, Md. -- They didn’t know what to expect all week, weren’t sure exactly what Robert Griffin III they would have to try to stop.

The Detroit Lions knew about the Griffin from last season. They knew about the Griffin from the first two weeks of this season. And they figured they would likely see the Griffin of old instead of the Griffin who merely looked old.

This is why, after Detroit’s 27-20 win over Washington, the Lions' defensive linemen understood they had handled themselves fairly well, limiting Griffin to 37 yards rushing and pressuring him often.

“We fast up front, man,” Detroit defensive end Willie Young said. “We’re professional athletes. We’ve got to be disciplined enough, which no one probably gives us credit for, but we have to be disciplined enough every snap to contain quarterbacks like that.”

Young had perhaps the most productive day of all the defensive linemen against Griffin. He didn’t sack him, but he pressured him often, hitting him four times, including one that forced an interception.

In all, Detroit’s ever-dominant defensive line hit Griffin eight times Sunday, and rookie Ziggy Ansah sacked him twice.

Much of defending Griffin is about containment. Take away one of his options -- either the run or the pass -- and force him to pick the other. The Lions ended up letting him pass -- Griffin threw 50 times -- but for the most part they didn't get beat deep, either.

The biggest pass play of the game for Washington, a 57-yard touchdown pass to Aldrick Robinson, was wiped out by the Calvin Johnson complete-the-process rule. Otherwise, Detroit did well against Washington’s run and pass.

“When you’re dealing with a quarterback like that, you just never know,” said Detroit cornerback Rashean Mathis, who started in place of Darius Slay on Sunday. “You have to cover a little longer.

“You have to cover a little longer in coverage and try to hold the guys off for the rush to get there, because he’s going to scramble around and run around. You just have to be good late, late in the down, and we were good late in the down.”

Detroit, for the most part, was good in every part of the down. Most of that started with a once-again dominant defensive line.

“Those guys got after him hard,” Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said. “He still made plays with his legs.

“Luckily we were able to make just a few more than they did.”

LANDOVER, Md. -- Observed in the locker room after the Detroit Lions' 27-20 victory over the Washington Redskins.

Vets for the win: Dominic Raiola, in discussing the fourth down call and why Matthew Stafford chose a particular lane for the quarterback sneak, looked over to the next locker, that of veteran left guard Rob Sims, and said simply “Look at us.” Then both Raiola and Sims laughed.

Postgame noise: Sitting between Reggie Bush and Raiola in the Detroit locker room were two giant speakers, blasting various kinds of music. When Bush was asked if they were his, he said no, then added “Ask Dom about that.”

Picture sharing: The Lions were told before the game the machine to get sideline pictures was down and Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said “the whole first half we were flying blind.”

It wasn’t as big an issue in the second half because of an act of sportsmanship by Washington. The Redskins shared their pictures with Detroit.

“They shared their pictures in the second half,” Schwartz said. “They knew that we were at a (dis)advantage. They don’t have to in that situation but I thought it was a very sportsmanlike move and shows the class that they have.”

LANDOVER, Md. -- A few thoughts on the Detroit Lions' 27-20 win against the Washington Redskins.

What it means: For Detroit, right now, everything. The Lions had not beaten Washington in the general District of Columbia area since the Redskins moved there in 1937. And it is Detroit’s first win on the road since Nov. 4, 2012, when the Lions beat Jacksonville 31-14. But the importance of the win is heavier because of what it signifies. A week after blowing a lead in Arizona, the Lions held on to beat a desperate Washington team. Its defensive line pressured Robert Griffin III all day. Its offense was diversified and featured both running and passing. And perhaps the biggest sign that this Detroit team is different than in years past: With a fourth-down decision up three points in the fourth quarter, Detroit coach Jim Schwartz went for it instead of taking the field goal. The Lions converted, scored a touchdown and won the game. Plays like that make a team believe.

Stock watch: Rising -- running back Joique Bell. In his first career start in place of the injured Reggie Bush, Bell gained 63 yards rushing and 69 yards receiving and scored a touchdown. He ran hard, hit holes well and broke tackles on many of his runs. Rookie tight end Joseph Fauria didn’t see a lot of opportunities, but he made plays when he did, scoring his second career touchdown and pulling off an 'N Sync touchdown dance. Falling -- cornerback Darius Slay. The rookie didn’t play at all in base defense, replaced by veteran Rashean Mathis from the first snap of the game.

Return of Burleson: Often in interviews, Nate Burleson will call himself a complementary player to Calvin Johnson and Bush. And compared to them, it is a fair assessment. But the 11-year pro out of Nevada had his first 100-yard game since Nov. 7, 2010, against the New York Jets. He had 116 yards, his most since Dec. 30, 2007, when he had 119 for Seattle.

Johnson milestones: Johnson became the third receiver in NFL history to catch 500 or more passes for 8,000 or more yards in fewer than 100 games. He now has 505 catches for 8,104 yards.

What’s next: Detroit returns home to face Chicago in an NFC North game at 1 p.m. Sunday, followed by trips to Green Bay and Cleveland.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz defended Ndamukong Suh on Monday from a report that the defensive lineman had issues controlling his personal fouls in practice.

“I can say unequivocally, he has never slammed anybody’s head to the ground or stomped on anybody [in practice],” Schwartz said Monday. “That’s just inflammatory stuff that it gets headlines and gets reaction.

“But I would bet that you guys would have reported that long before a guy who has never been to one of our practices.”

According to multiple reports, Jay Glazer said on Fox that “you talk to people inside Detroit and they say even in practice, Ndamukong gives guys the business. He’ll slam a guy’s head against the ground, he’ll take little shots at guys, and guys are concerned that if he can’t control himself even in practice, how can he control himself against somebody else’s jersey.”

Suh has a history of personal foul fines from games, including last week when he was docked $100,000 for a low block on Minnesota center John Sullivan. He had also been previously fined for personal fouls and unnecessary roughness on quarterbacks Jay Cutler, Jake Delhomme, Matt Schaub and Andy Dalton.

He was also suspended for two games for stomping on Green Bay Packers lineman Evan Dietrich-Smith in 2011.

Schwartz was adamant nothing of the sort has happened in practice with Suh.

“Unequivocally, I think that’s off base,” Schwartz said. “He’s done a very good job of, in practice, working around the quarterback. He had one time in all of training camp that he ended up in a power rush and put a lineman back into a quarterback, which is something we try to avoid as best as we can.

“But he had one and that’s probably the least amount of all our defensive linemen.”

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions coach Jim Schwartz finished up his big weekly news conference Monday. Here are the highlights.

• Once again, Schwartz praised the blocking of tight end Brandon Pettigrew, but said he has to "get back to making some of those" difficult catches in traffic that tight ends usually make. As far as the lack of snaps for Tony Scheffler and Joseph Fauria, he pointed to the lack of chances in the red zone for Detroit on Sunday.
• Kicker David Akers is not injured -- but was "shaken up" on the first field goal. Schwartz seemed more displeased with the lack of protection on the field-goal attempts than Akers missing a field goal and having another blocked.
• Defensive tackle Nick Fairley, who was inactive Sunday, is "day-to-day" with a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Patrick Edwards has a sprained ankle. The ankle kept him from playing part of the second half.
• In a weekly Ryan Broyles update, Schwartz continued to say the wide receiver is "getting closer." At this point, it sounds like he is still trying to get back into football shape, but Schwartz didn't want to put a timetable on his return. He has been inactive the first two weeks of the season.
• Schwartz isn't happy with the term "benching" in terms of rookie Darius Slay. The cornerback from Mississippi State has been pulled in favor of veteran Rashean Mathis against both Minnesota and Arizona. Schwartz said, though, he isn't concerned about Slay's confidence.
• Schwartz was only disappointed with one of Micheal Spurlock's returns -- the punt return where he ran the width of the field instead of going forward.

An examination of four hot issues from the Detroit Lions' 25-21 loss to the Arizona Cardinals:

Reggie Bush's health: In two games this season, Bush has dislocated his thumb, pulled his groin and taken a helmet to the left knee. And these are just the injuries we know about. The concern right now, although Bush wasn’t worried about it when talking after the loss, is whether or not his knee will keep him out of Sunday’s game against the Washington Redskins. Bush’s availability, as he has already shown, changes the offensive dynamic. His work on screens and underneath routes as a player who can score from any spot on the field makes the Lions more productive. Without him, increased attention will be paid to receiver Calvin Johnson.

Play calls at the end of the first half: This largely went unnoticed last week because Detroit scored on its final possession of the first half and ended up beating Minnesota, but the Lions held on to a timeout. In that case, it made sense in case Detroit needed to attempt a field goal. Same thing happened again against Arizona without similar success. On the last drive of the first half, the Lions had all three timeouts and 53 seconds to work with. They ran two plays -- a handoff to Bush for no gain and a handoff to Joique Bell that lost a yard. There was very little aggressiveness in the calls, and if they had been more aggressive, they could have gotten points out of the drive.

“The first play might not have looked like an aggressive play,” Detroit coach Jim Schwartz said. “But all of our plays are designed to work. If we could have got a first down at that point, we could have rolled.

“But there’s another side to that, too. If you go three-and-out real quick, burning all of your timeouts and then they get the ball back in that situation, too. After we didn’t make any yards on that first play, we decided to go into halftime at that point.”

There is logic there, although if you assume Sam Martin delivers a decent punt, Arizona getting the ball back and scoring seems unlikely.

Penaltypalooza: Wrote about this after the game, but it is worth mentioning again. Detroit needs to become a more disciplined team. Penalties will happen. No team will go through a season, and likely not a week, without some gaffes -- and likely some big ones at bad times. But over the past two weeks, this has turned into a trend for Detroit at bad times -- either putting teams in position to score or taking touchdowns away from the Lions.

Right cornerback: Schwartz said, “I don’t know that we have competition” at right cornerback following the loss, but he pulled rookie starter Darius Slay for the second straight week in favor of veteran Rashean Mathis. This time, though, Mathis took over much earlier. This will be worth watching this week.

ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Just after 1 p.m. ET on Monday, there could have been a collective sigh of some relief around the Detroit Lions facility.

It was then, during head coach Jim Schwartz’ weekly news conference, that he said star running back Reggie Bush did not have a long-term knee injury.

So all of the Lions can say it together now: Phew.

“He is certainly an important part of our offense,” Schwartz said. “Our offense was moving very well in the first half. We were converting third downs, converting about 50 percent of our third downs in the first half. Second half I don’t think we converted one.

“So obviously he meant a lot. Calvin (Johnson) was making a lot more plays in the first half because of the dynamic with Reggie. When he went out of the game, we weren’t really able to maintain that.”

And that is going to be the perpetual concern for Detroit. The Lions know what they can be with Bush in the game. It is when he's out the worrying can begin.

Considering how ineffective Detroit’s offense looked without Bush, having tests return clean is about as much of a win as the Lions could hope for on the day after a loss. In two games, it has become fairly obvious opponents were willing to give Bush at least the sliver of room he needed to make plays happen.

“There’s a reason that we went and got him,” Schwartz said. “And that’s because that guy is a very important guy in our offense. I think there’s probably a lot of teams that if they lost that guy, they would say they struggled to move the ball, struggled to do that.”

When Bush went down, the offense wasn’t the same. Not even close. The Lions halved their offensive stars. This is the concern now. For the second straight week, there are conversations about Bush and his injuries on a Monday.

The wonder is his durability. Schwartz said the Lions looked at that when they initially signed him and were encouraged he played and started every game last season. And in reality, his durability for a running back hasn’t been terrible.

He has played in at least 10 games in every season he’s been in the league except for 2010, his last in New Orleans. The past two years, he has come close to or eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing.

So durability shouldn’t be a factor, although having four parts of his body bothered in two weeks is at least cause to raise an eyebrow.

Unlike last week, where there was little question Bush would be available for Sunday, but there is a little bit more of one this week against Washington. The Lions will have to see how Bush's knee progresses -- especially for a running back who relies so much on his speed and his ability to change direction in a snap instead of a bruising back.

So unlike the thumb and even the groin injuries, the knee is a bigger concern. The knee is what makes Bush so special. Without healthy knees, Bush won’t have the agility and explosion he needs to be the back he has been turning into.

The back he is turning into is exactly what Detroit had hoped for. Now, they just need to make sure he’s able to stay on the field.