DETROIT -- The Lions saw another sound start wither away into a blowout loss, their sixth of the year, yet another punch in the gut that is this season.

They got manhandled at home once again, to the point where they were booed off it after a 27-9 defeat to the Vikings on Sunday, and the questions that arise for a 5-10 team under a first-year coach are only natural: Is the team buying in?

“That’s the million-dollar question that we need answered," Ricky Jean Francois said.

The Lions defensive tackle is one of the few big voices in the locker room. He came from the Patriot Way. He’s been one of Matt Patricia’s biggest supporters in a turbulent first year of trying to change the styles of the organization. Patricia has demanded toughness and additional time and energy. He’s been more critical than Jim Caldwell ever was and has put the clamps on his player in order to assure they stick to the message.

But at 5-10 with six double-digit losses, even his supporters are wondering if players are receiving that message.

“I think I heard Gandhi say this in a book I read: The only way you can change the culture is you have to change the people within in," Francois said. "I’m not finger-pointing on who needs to be changed or who needs to go somewhere, but if you want a different regime, if you want a different buy-in or system like that, the only way you get a different culture is to change the people that sit in it.”

He’s more than likely going to get his wish. Roster turnovers are heavy amid scheme changes like the Lions are going through on defense, and Detroit has plenty of other free agents who don’t seem to be strong fits to return to their current roles. It’s possible the Lions could bring back less than half of their 53-man roster for next season.

Francois sees it as necessary based on what he’s seeing in the transfer from practices to game day. He swears the Lions have the talent, particularly at quarterback and in the trenches, but then he sees a group that gets into a game and doesn’t play with the passion to match the team on the other side of the line.

“Excuse my french, but I’ll be damned if I go to work every week preparing myself, living inside of a training facility, doing everything that this coach asks me to come out here and keep displaying this,” Francois said. "It bothers me. If it doesn’t bother you, you don’t love football.”

The undying love of football is the test the Patriot Way seems to put so many players through. The demands to focus on that ahead of family and fun have rattled some along the way, and those are more than likely going to be the players who see themselves out when the calendar flips to 2019.

Here are other highlights from what coaches and players had to say after the game:

Nevin Lawson on the Hail Mary touchdown the Lions gave up to Kyle Rudolph to end the first half: “It sucked.”

Matt Patricia on where his team stands: “It is a tough squad. They’re mentally tough, physically tough, they work hard every single day and we just have to find a way to win.”

Quandre Diggs on being 5-10: “I’ve never lost 10 games in anything, not ever.”

Kirk Cousins on how this Hail Mary touchdown compares to the one he threw for Michigan State to beat Wisconsin: “Yeah, major shout out to all the Spartan fans out there. That was the only other one I’ve been a part of that’s been successful. They don’t come around that often. We’ve only even tried two this year but special when you hit them. This was fun because I knew it was a no doubter, where at Michigan State we had to wait for a review. But a lot of fun when you can run down the field 50 yards like that and be celebrating, and hopefully there’s more of those up ahead.”