Jim Caldwell refuses to answer questions about botched Hail Mary defense

Lions head coach Jim Caldwell refused to answer questions about his team’s botched Hail Mary on Thursday night in his Monday press conference.

It was the first time Caldwell had spoken to the media since his postgame press conference immediately after the result, so it was inevitable that he would face questions about how his team defended the final play against Green Bay. Caldwell wouldn’t talk, however.

“Some of you will ask me questions about last Thursday,” Caldwell told reporters according to the AP’s Larry Lage via CBS Detroit. “I’m not going back there.”

As Lage notes, there were several questions that Caldwell could have answered but didn’t. The Lions only rushed three, and none of them were the team’s best pass rusher in Ziggy Ansah. They didn’t throw Calvin Johnson deep to try to play a jump ball. They set up to defend a lateral play instead of a Hail Mary.

“It might not be appeasing to you or appealing to you, but the fact is that you have to get focused in on St. Louis in a hurry,” Caldwell said.

While it probably wouldn’t silence the critics, Caldwell could have at least answered the questions and put things to bed after a crushing loss that effectively ended the team’s already dim playoff hopes. Instead, he’s taking the Bill Belichick approach, which works for Belichick because he wins, but Jim Caldwell hasn’t. He already has an antagonistic relationship with the Detroit media and this isn’t likely to help his cause.