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ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said the franchise keeps detailed self-scouts and studies his tendencies to make sure he evens play calls out as they appear. This came in response to a week's worth of questions about predictability within the Lions offense after Denver cornerback Bradley Roby told The Detroit News that he knew what play was coming on his interception Sunday night. Lions receiver Golden Tate followed that up Tuesday by saying that he's been told by opponents every week that they have known that some plays were coming. Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford shot down the notion of predictability in Lombardi's play calling Thursday, saying the play of Roby's interception was one the Lions had not run before. "Listen, we keep detailed self-scouts, and there are tendencies that show up and as they show up, you work to break them," Lombardi said Friday. "If you're getting a certain formation and maybe you're passing a little more often, you start getting some runs into the game plan to break that tendency. "So it's kind of tendencies show up after a game or two, and then you try to even them out. I'm confident that we do that." Coach Jim Caldwell defended Lombardi multiple times this week, including saying Monday he would not be taking play calling away from the second-year offensive coordinator. On Friday, he continued his defense of Lombardi. "I believe in what he's doing," Caldwell said Friday. "I believe in him." Lombardi said the bigger concern is when teams signal at the line of scrimmage and that teams steal those signals, so the Lions "have a few signals that mean the same thing," but he said at some point, every team has signals stolen. The Lions have the No. 27 offense in the NFL and the worst rushing offense in the league, averaging 45 yards per game. Lombardi said he is aware of the criticism he has been facing but is "not reading the papers a whole lot." He said the biggest issues with the offense have been turnovers and the run game and that his players "have been great" responding to what he's been asking them to do. "I think if we are protecting the football better in these first three games, we feel a little bit different up here. So there are some good things going on," Lombardi said. "But listen, fixing the running game is real. We need to do better at that and protecting the football. "So those are real things, and you're close on them but close isn't good enough, so we've got to get them fixed."
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