--Might this be a good time to draft a quarterback, because the Lions have a veteran and wouldn't need to throw in the rookie right away? "Yeah, I think if the right quarterback is there, now would be a good time to draft a quarterback," Mayhew said. "It has to be a good fit for us."

--Mayhew stopped short of saying the Lions would not draft a player No. 1 without signing him first, but he said: "It's of critical importance that we have a contract done prior to the draft. That's very, very important to us." He envisions the Lions negotiating with at least three potential No. 1 picks, starting a couple of weeks before the draft because of the complexity of the contracts.

--Mayhew said he was considering moving left tackle Jeff Backus to guard, perhaps paving the way for the Lions to draft a tackle No. 1. "I had one conversation with him at practice last year," Mayhew said. "He told me he thought he could do it." Backus has started every game - 128 straight - at left tackle since the Lions drafted him in the first round in 2001. "I think it's easier, though, to go from outside to inside than it is to go from inside to outside," Mayhew said. "Jeff's a talented guy. He's a hard worker. He's a smart guy. He takes coaching. So I think if we did that and we did it relatively soon, I think he could adapt to the position. I think we'll cross that bridge whenever we get to it. If that's something that we decide as a club is the best thing for us, I know Jeff wouldn't have a problem with it."

--Mayhew said the Lions would research prospects more thoroughly and make group personnel decisions. But from the first pick to the last, he will make sure he is happy with the selection. "It's going to be a guy that I like," Mayhew said. "All the way down the draft, it's going to be a guy that I like. I think sometimes we have picked guys, and I don't know if Matt really liked them the way other people may have liked them in the building. That's all I'll say about the past."

--Mayhew won't say much about how Millen or coach Rod Marinelli did things, even to illustrate how the Lions will do things differently in the future. He doesn't want to take shots or come off as a know-it-all. "People go places, and they take over, and they say, 'Before, you guys were doing it all wrong, and now I'm here, the savior, to save the day,'" Mayhew said. "That's not me. And I respect Rod. I respect Matt."

--When the Lions interviewed Miami secondary coach Todd Bowles for their head-coaching job, he told them when the Dolphins went from 1-15 to 11-5, they banned talk about the past. The Lions have done the same thing, even, say, telling funny stories in the cafeteria. "We started about two or three weeks ago," Mayhew said. "We said, 'You know what? We don't do that anymore.' And now we catch each other, and we stop. We don't do that anymore. I think it's important to let go of the past and look toward the future."

--The Lions are working with a company that does psychological testing of prospects at the combine. "It doesn't make the decision for you," Mayhew said. "It's another piece of information. It's no different than what his vertical jump is. It's another piece of information you have when you pick a player. You wouldn't not pick a guy because he didn't test well, and you wouldn't pick a guy whose play doesn't reflect it because he did test well. It's just more information I think will help us."