First, it was quarterback Jon Kitna, who went on IR with a back injury in October. Now it's wide receiver Mike Furrey, who went on IR with a concussion Monday.

"This is the way they want to go," Furrey said. "I'm 100 percent right now, and I'll be getting ready for next year next week."

The Lions released a statement in response. General manager Martin Mayhew said the Lions made the decision after Furrey continued to experience symptoms for three weeks.

"We made this move to protect Mike and to do what's best for this football team," Mayhew said.

Furrey suffered a concussion Nov. 9 against Jacksonville, and when he tried to work out afterward, he experienced symptoms like dizziness and nausea. He said he went through two practices and a walkthrough Tuesday, as the Lions went through a compressed schedule before playing Thursday against Tennessee. The injury report listed him as limited that day.

"I had a little bit of lightheadedness afterward, but who wouldn't after you hadn't run for two weeks?" Furrey said. "But they tried to shut me down from there."

The Lions ruled him out for the Thanksgiving game. Furrey said Mayhew told him injured reserve was a possibility then, but he came to Lions headquarters Monday expecting to practice because no one had told him anything was done. He said he walked into the receiver's room and saw Keary Colbert, whom the Lions just signed, then found Mayhew in the lunch room to get the news.

"I actually had to go confront it," Furrey said. "I went up to Martin and asked him what was going on. I was planning on going to practice today. I confronted him in the lunch room, and he said they were going to stick to the plan they had last week."

In the statement, Mayhew said: "I had a lengthy discussion with Mike last Wednesday to explain the thought process behind placing him on IR."

--Can it get any worse?

The Lions are headed toward the NFL's first 0-16 season after suffering their worst Thanksgiving Day loss ever, a 47-10 stinker against Tennessee.

"We got embarrassed out there," defensive tackle Shaun Cody said. "They took it to us."

The 37-point margin of defeat was the largest the Lions have ever had on Thanksgiving, and they have played 69 Thanksgiving games dating to 1934. They had never allowed so many points on the holiday, either.

The Titans had two running backs surpass 100 rushing yards: Chris Johnson (125) and LenDale White (106). The Lions' leading rusher, running back Kevin Smith, had 22 yards -- 21 of them on one play. The Lions went 0-for-11 on third down.

"We got beat very soundly -- very, very soundly," coach Rod Marinelli said. "They handled us all the way through. They're a heck of a team, and we didn't meet their challenge."

The Lions have lost five straight Thanksgiving games by an average margin of 23.4 points. They fired coach Steve Mariucci after a 27-7 loss to Atlanta in 2005. But Marinelli remains steadfast he is the right man for the job, even though he is 10-34 overall and 1-19 in his last 20.

"I do, and I feel like I just keep fighting and keep going," Marinelli said. "The record doesn't show it. But I have great belief in myself."

Quarterback Daunte Culpepper threw a horrible pick-six and was pulled for the third time in four starts since signing with the Lions.

"That's a really good football team, but we didn't play our best game today, nowhere near our best game," Culpepper said. "To beat a team like that, you've got to have some things go your way and you've got to play almost a mistake-free game, and we didn't do that."