Every week during the Lions season we’ll do a Twitter mailbag. Use the social media site to send your questions to Lions beat writer Dave Birkett at @davebirkett.

Q. How warm is the Jim Bob Cooter seat right now? - @BigBitingPig

A. Everyone here remembers 2015, when the Lions got off to a dreadful 1-6 start and Jim Caldwell fired Joe Lombardi as his offensive coordinator and promoted Jim Bob Cooter as his replacement to salvage a shipwreck of a season in the second half.

The Lions’ offense has been a disappointment this year, but this is nothing like 2015 and Cooter — to the best of my knowledge — isn’t under any pressure similar to the heat Lombardi was feeling at the time.

People across the NFL will tell you that Cooter is a future head coach, a bright offensive mind who’s done some good things with Matthew Stafford. He won’t be a head coach after this season, but at 33 years old, that’s his future.

Second, it’s not like the Lions are teeming with talent on offense. They don’t have a running game (and, yes, you can argue fairly that it’s Cooter’s responsibility to get more out of it), they don’t have big-time playmaking wide receiver or tight end, and the offensive line that they’ve invested so much in has been a disappointment because of injuries (Taylor Decker; assorted others) and underperformance (Rick Wagner; most others).

Lastly, yes, Cooter calls plays and designs the offense, but he’s largely executing Caldwell's vision of the offense. It wouldn’t be a good look to let a head coach fire two offensive coordinators. If the first two were that bad, what would give anyone confidence he could pick a third?

[Monarrez: I'm quitting the Dodgers, and fans should quit the Lions]

Q. I thought I saw Jim Bob and Stafford arguing on the sideline during the game, is there friction - @WillNDowd

A. Will is right that cameras last week caught a very brief snippet of an animated exchange between Matthew Stafford and Jim Bob Cooter on the sideline following the Lions’ opening drive of the fourth quarter. The incident occurred after Dwayne Washington was stopped for a 1-yard gain on third-and-goal at the 2-yard line, and the Lions settled for a field goal.

It’s unclear exactly what the exchange was about, but it looked more like two people venting their frustrations about a tough day than it did any true friction (remember the Tony Scheffler sideline exchange with Scott Linehan after Titus Young repeatedly torpedoed plays?). Cooter ended the incident with a slap on Stafford’s shoulder pads, and it should be noted that Jared Abbrederis didn’t get to his block in time on Washington’s failed run, and the Lions attempted a field goal after going for it on fourth down on the previous drive.

Stafford was asked about the incident after the game and said, “We were just talking over what we liked.” I asked Cooter about it on Friday, and he said there’s no friction between him and his quarterback.

“I don’t remember,” Cooter said. “Maybe talking about a play. Talking about, I don’t know. We’re always talking about something. I don’t remember specifically which one it was. I’m sure we were discussing the last drive and whatever happened on that drive.”

Q. With execution being a problem, are they players not good enough or are the coaches not putting them in the best position to succeed? - @Cartinthewater

A. This is always a chicken-or-egg thing. The Lions have some deficiencies in their roster like every team does. They don’t have a great pass rusher up front, they don’t have a game-changing running back or a throw-it-up-and-get-it wide receiver. But the truth is, there aren’t a lot of players like that in the NFL and it’s up to the coaching staff to get the most out of the talent the front office brings in.

It’s easy to cherry-pick plays and situations and say, what was the coaching staff thinking? Certainly, there have been instances this year where it’s seemed impossible for a lineman to make a block or a linebacker to succeed in coverage.

I think the Lions have underperformed their talent in some places on offense, and outperformed it in others on defense. But the answer to your question is both. The Lions could use another blue-chip player or two, but coaches have to do a better job making sure those execution errors don’t occur.

[Lions offensive lineman T.J. Lang expects boos when he returns to Lambeau Field]

Q. If u had a chance to add an impact all pro to this team what position and why? What effect can this one guy make on the whole team - @CHEN313

A. I like this question, and it’s easy to dream on what the Lions could be if they had Aaron Rodgers, Julio Jones or Aaron Donald on their team. I thought about making a healthy Rodgers the selection here because he’s the best quarterback in the NFL, and if you have that, so much else falls into place. But the Lions can win with Matthew Stafford at quarterback, so I’m going a different route.

I would add a dominant edge rusher, above all else, to the current mix of talent on this team. Someone like Von Miller, Khalil Mack or Joey Bosa could have a transformative impact on a defense that hasn’t had a sack in two straight games.

You could argue the defense already is a step ahead of the offense, and thus a skill player would be of more value. But putting a 22-year-old Bosa on this roster for the next few years, in a division where you play Rodgers twice a season, changes the whole dynamic of what they can do.

Q. Do you feel Caldwell is losing this locker room after this losing streak? Are players in the locker room losing faith in the process? - @chrisjlee

A. In a word, no. I don’t think Caldwell is losing his grip on this team or the locker room or anything, and I don’t think you can draw that conclusion from one (or more) snippy news conferences or a three-game losing streak, as bad as it is. There’s frustration all around with how the team has played over the last month, but no one appears to be going through the motions. I’ve seen locker rooms before where players start to tune out coaches. There’s a lot of whispering going on, a lot of finger-pointing, and I haven’t seen any evidence of that here.

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!



