ALLEN PARK -- Glover Quin speaks through pursed lips. His tone is grim, his words few. He sure doesn't sound like a man having fun. And he doesn't look like one having fun either.

Another losing season will do that to you. And this time, the ever-reliable Lions safety has been a part of the problem. He certainly hasn't been bad, but even he would tell you he hasn't been good enough either.

Simply put, the longtime playmaker just isn't making the plays he used to. And in this game, where Father Time is the cruelest of masters, the question is only natural: Is this it for the 32-year-old safety?

It's a question that will surely be pondered at some point, and one even Quin himself has mulled before. But he says he still hasn't given weight to what his future holds after the season.

"I'm just taking it day by day, man," Quin said. "Just enjoying the season. Trying to figure out ways to win. Hate losing. Definitely not fun. Just trying to find ways to win and make some plays, man.

"I miss making plays. Like, I need to make a play. That's all I'm trying to do."

Quin used to make a lot of them. The one-time corner made the move to safety in Houston, then joined the Lions in 2013 on a five-year, $23.5 million contract that now looks like a downright bargain. He still hasn't missed a start since he was a rookie -- that's 143 in a row, the most among all safeties in the NFL. Malcolm Jenkins is next closes at 82 games.

Quin didn't miss so much as a snap in 2016. He missed only seven snaps in all of 2014, when he picked off an NFL-high seven passes. He made his first Pro Bowl that year, and was named second-team All-Pro.

There hasn't been a more consistent player for the Lions defense since 2013 than Glover Quin. At times, you would be hard pressed to find a better one. But this year, his reliability has been strained.

Quin has looked a beat slow going all the way back to the preseason, when Marshawn Lynch simply outran him for a 60-yard touchdown. Fears grew that he had lost a step, but were tempered by his unfailing reliability. Then the season started, and he continued to struggle to affect games.

His 57 tackles are second only to Jarrad Davis, but too many have come too far down the field. And after picking off multiple passes in each of the last six years, and 21 in that span overall, he still has none heading into a Week 13 game against the Los Angeles Rams.

He ranks 66th among all qualifying players at the position, according to ProFootballFocus.

With just one season left on the extension he signed last year, a potential cap savings of $6.3 million if the Lions were to move on and third-round pick Tracy Walker playing well behind him, questions will be asked after the season about Quin's future. And he understands why some are asking them now.

"Yeah, I get it," he said. "I get it."

But Quin, who turns 33 in January, also insists he's still enjoying himself.

"I love playing the game," he said. "The guys in the locker room are fun to be around, and pretty, pretty, pretty cool group. Young guys keep me laughing."

And if this were to be the end, Quin will leave the game without regrets.

"For me, I always felt like I always gave everything that I had," he said. "I always did that, enjoyed every moment, took in every moment. I've never wanted any regrets. I never wanted to have any, like, 'Ah, I wish I could have that back.' I've always just kind of gave everything I had.

"I didn't ever want to look in the mirror and say, 'I wish I would have tried harder in my eighth year in the league, so I need to play one more year in the league to make up for it.' I never wanted to do that."