The Lions have shipped out some players from last year's team, and though they have faced huge deficits in five of their six losses, they have fought back in every game but one. (And this one's indoors at Ford Field.) "Detroit plays extremely hard," Cooley said. "They don't quit. ... Obviously they've been struggling a little bit, but when you keep an effort like that, you have the ability to make a lot of plays."

--Redskins coach Jim Zorn said if you don't look at the score, coach Rod Marinelli's Lions look like everybody else in the NFL the way they battle. "What I appreciate about Rod, I mean, they might be 0-6, but those guys play hard every game," Zorn said. "I don't see anybody quitting. I don't see anybody holding back. I think he's got them going."

--The Lions apparently plan to start rookie Gosder Cherilus at right tackle, after igniting a minor firestorm last week by going with veteran George Foster. "I think they want to see Gosder play, the organization," Foster said. "He's probably going to get the start, from what I can tell." Marinelli has declined to discuss lineup changes in recent weeks. But he indicated Cherilus was doing what he needed to do to. "He's in the mix every week, and he's going to work hard at it," Marinelli said. "I like how he is responding."

--Wide receiver Shaun McDonald finished Sunday's game at Houston with a strange stat line - no catches for minus-seven yards. He caught a lateral and then tried to lateral again, but the ball went out of bounds. "That was funny," McDonald said. "I don't think I'll ever end with stats like that ever again." McDonald was supposed to get more action after the trade of wide receiver Roy Williams, but he didn't blame the play calling. He had three or four balls thrown to him. On one play, he was mugged by the defensive back on a deep ball. "That definitely should have been called," he said. On the others? "I had some chances, didn't make some plays," McDonald said. "I'm disappointed in myself. I expect to go out there and play a good game."

--If teams double-cover wide receiver Calvin Johnson, others need to make plays to take the pressure off of him. "If they're doing something to completely take Calvin out, then there's open options for other guys," quarterback Dan Orlovsky said. "In basketball, when they double down in the post, you've got to hit open jump shots. They're going to double down until you do. If they're doubling Calvin, then guys have got to make plays. Eventually they can't do that anymore if guys are making plays."

--Right guard Stephen Peterman played Sunday at Houston after sitting out two games with a broken left hand. He wasn't confident at first, though. "I was just like, 'Man, please don't break on me again, screws pop out,'" Peterman said. "But once I got going, I was fine. I was a little sore after the game, but today I practiced and felt good. I went out there and felt like it was normal, so everything's fine."

--The Lions want to improve their return game, but they can do only so much. "We're looking," Marinelli said. "There's not a lot of options for us right now. But it's something we're still looking at." Was that a failure in the off-season? "I think so," Marinelli said. "We have not found that guy, especially kickoff returner. It's not there." The Lions were counting too much on Aveion Cason, who went on injured reserve. "We thought we had AC," Marinelli said. "He was good. He was good, not great, but he was good at it. I think we didn't have a backup plan for it, a good enough backup plan."

BY THE NUMBERS: 51 - Straight home games the Lions have sold out, a streak that could end Sunday against Washington with the Lions 0-6.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "Hopefully they do. If they're going to overlook us and not respect us, we'll go in there and get a win." - RG Stephen Peterman, on the Redskins' potentially taking the Lions lightly.