After Sunday's 48-25 loss to Green Bay, Marinelli's Monday news conference was full of tough questions: Is he considering a change at quarterback? Can he objectively evaluate the performance of Joe Barry, his son-in-law and defensive coordinator? If the Lions don't make the playoffs in his third season, does he expect to be fired? Is he the right man for the job?

Marinelli answered in much the same way he always has in tough times. He supported Kitna. He supported Barry. He declined to speculate about the future, and he took responsibility for the team's failings.

"It starts with me," Marinelli said. "It always starts with me, and it has since I've been here. I've always said that."

What about Kitna?

"He had a bad game," Marinelli said. "I feel he's our leader and a very good quarterback. I do."

What about Barry?

"I'm very objective of in terms of I know exactly what I want," Marinelli said. "I've had a chance to work with him for years, and he's putting it in exactly the way I want it, so if there's a problem with it, it's me."

What about the prospect of being fired?

"I have no control over any of that," Marinelli said. "I don't know. When you look at that, I'm spinning my wheels and my energy on something I don't know. Why would I do that?"

Why is Marinelli the right leader for the Lions?

"If you summarize all of my answers today, I would say that we've tried to put this thing together as a team in terms of how you do business first in this building, in this complex," Marinelli said. "That was No. 1. And then the second phase is, we've got to play better game day.

"Once we're able to take our practice habits to our game with consistency, we're going to do a nice job of winning. But as of this point, that has not happened, and I won't blow magic and mirrors to anybody. I deal in reality. I like what we've done in this building. I don't like what we've done on the field yet consistently."