"I think where we've hurt ourselves in the past is by talking too much," Mayhew told reporters Tuesday at a news conference. "I've been there prior to the draft, and I've seen us get out there and talk about our needs and what kind of players that we're looking for, and I've seen you guys and others hone in on what our needs are.

"I read the clips for every NFL team 365 days a year. I read everybody's clips, and I read what's going on, and I'm doing that looking for a competitive edge. And what I don't want to do is be the person that gives somebody else a competitive edge on us."

--Mayhew does not intend to overhaul the roster completely, and that will be a major factor in the coaching search.

"I think when you make a change like this, I think you look at who you have, and the most important thing when you hire a coach is who you can keep," Mayhew said. "What you don't want to do is scrap or get rid of good players because they don't fit your system anymore."

Mayhew referenced cornerback Dre' Bly. The Lions signed Bly as a free agent, and he went to two Pro Bowls for them. But then they changed coaches, changed the defense and traded him.

"So that's going to be part of our process with these coaches," Mayhew said. "We're going to say, 'Who can we keep?' And that's important to us."

--What has Mayhew done since taking over as GM, beyond trading WR Roy Williams and signing QB Daunte Culpepper?

"We've certainly managed to communicate better between our personnel department and our coaching staff," Mayhew said. "We've starting meeting on a more regular basis, talking through our roster. We've cleaned up our roster some. I think the back end of our roster is a bunch of solid, blue-collar, hard-working guys. You're talking about guys like Stuart Schweigert, Dexter Wynn, Keary Colbert, Moran Norris. These guys have an opportunity to help us on our team next year. We were signing guys not just to get through the (last) four or five weeks of the season."

--Team president Tom Lewand and Mayhew plan to hire another personnel executive and make other changes, such as emphasizing psychological testing of draft prospects.

"You look at the guys who didn't make it, a lot of it had to do with their mental makeup," Mayhew said. "It wasn't their talent on the field. It wasn't what you saw on tape. We have to do a better job of knowing these guys, of really knowing them."

Lewand said the Lions can't afford to fall in love with players who don't fit.

"We need bigger players," Lewand said. "We need tough. We need smart. Then that means you can't draft little, slow, less-intelligent guys."

--CB Leigh Bodden ripped the outgoing coaching staff. He was upset he didn't start the season opener.

"When I first stepped foot in the door, did I start?" Bodden said. "That doesn't make any sense. I don't know what conclusion they had for that. It ain't like I didn't make plays during training camp. It was just baffling to me. From that point, I wasn't happy."

Bodden started the rest of the Lions' games, but he was upset when the Lions moved him from the right side to the left.

"Eventually I got used to it, but it would have been great if I had just started on one side and just left it at that," Bodden said. "But they didn't have a clue what they wanted to do with me."

--Bodden criticized the Lions' defensive play-calling after defensive coordinator Joe Barry was fired.

"You've got to be unpredictable, and I feel like sometimes we were kind of too predictable in what we were calling, and that costs you," Bodden said. "If the offensive coordinator can pretty much tell what you're about to run, then he's going to beat whatever you have."

Outgoing coach Rod Marinelli said: "The defense is built on execution. Sometimes people will know where we're at. It's about executing, and that's how it's always been built and how we've always played it."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "It's a new start for us. It's not an opportunity to look back and point fingers and say who was responsible for this or that. We look forward to moving forward. I think people have been looking for change. This is change." -- Martin Mayhew, on assuming the Lions' general manager role permanently.