Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia began his Monday press conference by announcing the team has placed wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. on injured reserve due to the knee injury he suffered a couple weeks ago in Chicago.
What does the news mean for Detroit's passing game?
It really becomes a next-man-up scenario for Detroit, much like it's been the last two weeks without Jones.
Kenny Golladay, Bruce Ellington, Theo Riddick and others will have to continue to take on a bigger load of the pass-catching duties.
"We'll adapt with whatever we've got to do as far as the latest injuries, whatever they are," Patricia said. "We have to figure it out, roll with the next guy in there and see how it goes."
What can we expect from Kenny Golladay the last month of the season?
He's been good stepping into the clear No. 1 role the last two weeks without Jones. There's no reason to think he can't continue that. Golladay has 13 catches for 203 yards and a touchdown the last two games. He leads the team with 52 receptions for 804 yards and five scores for the season.
"Kenny's done a good job all year," Patricia said. "It's something we've talked about probably going back to the spring. Identified his ability and the skillset we think can help us win in certain situations."
Most importantly, the Lions have done a good job the last couple weeks finding different ways to get him the ball, even with the coverage now shifted his direction. He's been a focal point for Carolina and Chicago the least two weeks, and has still been productive.
"I think he continually evolves," Patricia said of Golladay. "That's something that he's going to have to just kind of keep getting used to and preparing for."
Will Bruce Ellington continue to play a big role as well?
Ellington has caught 12 passes over the last two weeks and has stepped in and really done some good things with the opportunity that's been presented to him. He was signed just before Jones was injured in Chicago, and it's turned out to be a very impactful signing due to the injury.
Patricia has liked the fact that Ellington has made the most of the opportunity the last couple weeks, and expects that to grow even more the more familiar he becomes with the offense.
Is Patricia satisfied with the play of quarterback Matthew Stafford?
"Listen, that's a tough guy right there. He's a tough quarterback," Patricia said of Stafford. "Like I said before, (he's) someone I'm glad I get to go to work with every single day. He comes in the building and he's just going out and preparing trying to go out the next week and just win, and really that's all we can look for.
"I'm obviously first and foremost going to just look at myself and say I'm not happy with the way the team ... and where we are from a record standpoint, we obviously want to be better."
Patricia said NFL games come down to five or so plays that ultimately decide the outcome, and it's a collective team effort that decides a win vs. a loss. Patricia said teams with better records than Detroit are making more of those difference-making plays.
"That's the fine line of the NFL and it is what it is," Patricia said.
So why haven't the Lions been able to make more of those key plays?
That's the million dollar question for Patricia and this team.
"It's a good question," Patricia said. "I would say there's different situations in each game that come up that we haven't done it consistently enough. I think that some of the guys I would say now are much closer than maybe they were in the beginning part of the year and some of those situations that we come into are really those kind of one play here or there and we have to capitalize on more than we have in order to win."
Patricia and his team will continue to grind and prepare for these last five games in hopes of decreasing and ultimately eliminating the bad plays.
"The biggest thing for me is just always going to be consistency," he said. "If we're consistent with it and the details of all of it then I think maybe we eliminate some of those possibilities on being on the negative side of it."
