Lions Insider

Speaking to the local media at the Super Bowl on Thursday, Schwartz responded to the comments NFL analyst Warren Sapp made about Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh earlier this week.

“Here’s my thought,” Schwartz said. “There’s an adage in coaching that says, ‘If you listen to the fans, you’re soon going to be sitting amongst them.’ I’ll take that one step further and say, ‘If you listen to the media or analysts too much, you’ll be working amongst them.’

Schwartz was refering to comments Sapp made on Tuesday when he said Suh hadn’t worked to become a better player from his rookie season to last season and was a one-dimensional player. Schwartz disagreed with Sapp’s assessment.

“I don’t agree with the question that he struggled this year,” Schwartz said. “We’re going through our cut-ups right now. I said it too many times last year, usually when you’re talking about a defensive tackle, you’re saying, ‘Wow, he really played good.’ I know the stats didn’t really show that, but four sacks is nothing to sneeze at for a defensive tackle.

Suh finished with 36 tackles, four sacks and one pass defense this season. As a rookie in 2010, he had 66 tackles and 10 sacks; three pass defenses, one interception, one fumble recovery, forced a fumble and had a touchdown.

“Warren Sapp is a great player, I think he had 12 sacks his first two years,” Schwartz said. “Ndamukong has 14 his first two years. Okay, is it a snap shot? Is it a career? Is it one game you don't have a sack and all of the sudden it's whatever?

“We see Ndamukong everyday, every single practice, every single play. It’s a lot different perspective than someone who is watching on TV.

“I don’t know how you can talk about our defensive tackles, Ndamukong in general, and stop at stats. You have to look at everyone else and I think our corners and safeties and linebackers would tell you that our pressure inside played a big part in a lot of the turnovers we had this year.”