Lions WR Kenneth Harris was carted off the field because of an apparent right ankle injury during the morning session. He got hurt while making a fine grab over a defender on a deep pass from Matthew Stafford along the far sideline. Harris tried to get up but could put no weight on the ankle.

Matthew Stafford completed 7-of-14 passes for 114 yards 1 TD and 1 INT in his first preseason game despite his receivers dropping several balls early. Stafford's INT was returned for a touchdown.

Culpepper started and completed 5 of 6 for 41 yards.

Lions coach Jim Schwartz announced today the quarterback rotation for Saturday’s exhibition opener against Atlanta. Daunte Culpepper will start. Matthew Stafford likely will take over sometime in the second quarter, Drew Stanton likely sometime in the second half.

Matthew Stafford and Daunte Culpepper are trying to be low-key as they compete for the Lions' starting QB job.

Stafford, the No. 1 pick in the NFL draft, isn't saying much as he approaches Saturday's exhibition opener against Atlanta at Ford Field. Although he said his first game-like experience will be "cool" and he is "excited about it, for sure," he was almost yawning as he said it.

"I'm not really interested in calling anything my debut," Stafford said Thursday. "I don't really care. I'm just going out there and having fun and playing football again."

Culpepper, the rejuvenated veteran, isn't saying anything. He hasn't given interviews since a media session the first day of training camp. He said he might talk to reporters after Saturday's game.

OC Scott Linehan also is playing down the exhibition opener. Coach Jim Schwartz said he will announce today who will start, but Linehan said: "We're really not all that concerned about who's starting and who isn't."

Asked if one quarterback has emerged over the other, Linehan said: "We haven't gone down that road yet. I think both have emerged as much-improved players from the time we started in the off-season, the time we started in training camp. ... Let's be patient and let it take care of itself. We haven't even played a preseason game."

Loins beat-writer Tom Kowalski says there is no question, Matthew Stafford will win the starting spot over veteran Daunte Culpepper

Scott Linehan is entering his eighth season as an offensive coordinator or head coach in the National Football League and he's been around a lot of quarterbacks. Linehan, in his first season as the Detroit Lions' offensive coordinator, knows how experienced and knowledgeable quarterbacks are supposed to act.

"I don't feel like I'm coaching or talking to a rookie when we work with him,'' Linehan said Tuesday about Matthew Stafford, the Lions' first-round draft pick. "That's not just talking and saying 'That's how it is because he's a No. 1 pick.' He has a very natural feel for the game and understands concepts, he can translate things he's done before to what he's doing now without a lot of repetition. He can go right to it and make that decision. He's pretty impressive that way.''

Stafford, the first overall pick in the draft, is in a battle with veteran quarterback Daunte Culpepper for the starting job.

The Lions have said more than once they're not inclined to gamble on a reclamation project like Michael Vick.
And prior to playing in Wednesday's pro-am event at the Buick Open at Warwick Hills, head coach Jim Schwartz said much the same thing when asked if the Lions would have any interest in signing Vick. The former Atlanta Falcons quarterback, who served 18 months in a federal penitentiary for running a dogfighting ring, was conditionally reinstated by NFL commissioner Roger Goodell earlier this week.
"Yeah, probably not," Schwartz said. "With what we've done at quarterback, we've invested a lot at the quarterback position, as you know. There's a first-round pick (Matthew Stafford), a second-round pick (Drew Stanton), we have (Daunte) Culpepper looking good and coming back. So I think, from that standpoint, we've invested a (lot) at that position."

Daunte Culpepper is currently the Detroit Lions' No. 1 QB and, at worst, he's expected to go into the season as the team's No. 2 (behind rookie first-round pick Matthew Stafford). However, the Lions have given themselves some wiggle room if they decide to go in another direction with Culpepper.

At the start of free agency in late February, Culpepper's contract called for him to make a roster bonus of $2.5 million at that time and then make an additional $2.5 million in salary during the season. Because the Lions didn't want to pay the bonus at the time, Culpepper agreed to restructure his deal.

The Lions restructured the deal that one way for one reason - to give them an "out'' if they didn't want Culpepper on the roster for the start of the regular season - and also to protect against a training camp injury.

In a recent radio interview, Lions head coach Jim Schwartz was asked about the possibility of rookie Matthew Stafford opening the regular season as the team's starting QB.

Schwartz repeatedly stressed the point that fans should not get too far ahead of themselves.

He said Stafford has a lot to learn, he is only a rookie.

The reality is, Stafford, the first overall pick in the 2009 National Football League draft, is on the fast track to become the Lions' starting QB this season.

So far, Stafford has passed every test with flying colours.

That is why Schwartz warns of caution.

It is still seven weeks away from the opener and anything can happen.

Lions TE Brandon Pettigrew. A big-framed kid (6-6, 260) with natural ability, Pettigrew, who loves to block, will be able to handle the bigger defensive ends one-on-one. Even as a rookie, he'll be a matchup nightmare. Plus, he's already connecting with rookie QB Matthew Stafford on the field.
Coach Jim Schwartz says: "He's the best tight end to come out in the last four or five years. He can block, and although he might not have great speed, he's very smooth and he can get downfield. And he's a huge, huge target."