ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Trying to predict what will happen is fruitless for the Detroit Lions receivers -- a way to create unnecessary agita.

So they try not to talk about it, even if they can look down their row in the locker room and realize they are all competing against each other for jobs. Try not to think about it. Try to encourage each other and remain friends even though they know all of their fortunes are intertwined.

“It’s a known elephant in the room,” receiver TJ Jones said. “We all agree that we have no idea which way they are going to go with it so we just stay away from it. There’s no sense in believing, oh, they’ll do it this way and having, then you kind of build up false securities or insecurities based off a decision that you have no idea how it is going to turn out.”

There are two guarantees in the Lions' receiver room -- Calvin Johnson and Golden Tate. Otherwise, there is a mass of receivers fighting for anywhere between two and four roster spots, not including the practice squad.

But the demarcation line between the non-Calvin-and-Tate receivers on the Lions roster is murky. The Lions hope that situation has clarity after Friday’s preseason game against Jacksonville.

“You need to see some guys separate from the pack,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell said. “Right now there’s a pretty good logjam in there where a lot of guys kind of look the same and are performing well.

“But let’s see if someone’s got something a little bit different, something out of the norm, something that will set themselves apart from the rest of those guys.”

The difference could be positive or negative, although Caldwell said receivers are not dropping balls, which would be one way to fall down the list. Special teams will play a role and Jeremy Ross, Ryan Broyles and Jones are all vying for the returner job. Corey Fuller has special teams value on multiple units. Greg Salas leads the Lions in preseason yards, with 100. Lance Moore is the experienced veteran who has spent a lot of camp with the first unit.

Combined, they know they can’t dwell on what might happen because at this point it is too close.

“If you think about it too much, then it’s going to mentally drain you,” Salas said. “So you just don’t. You have got to do a good job of mentally blocking it out and just playing, playing your game and let the results speak for themselves.”

Ross and Jones are taking similar approaches. The thought process is to go out every day, make as many plays as possible and pull for the other guys in their group. Focus on improvement.

“When I’m out there, it’s like, ‘OK, I’m running this route. Let me just be the best I can be at this route,’ “ Ross said. “I’m making this block. Let me be the best that I can be at this block and everything else can take care of itself.

“If I’m just focusing on the things I have to do and try to do them well, then what’s going to happen is going to happen.”

Ross, Moore and Salas have experience with this. Jones doesn’t. He missed camp last season and was always destined for the in-season PUP list. So he learned how this works over the past three weeks.

Jones beat himself up over mistakes he made at first, worried it might get him cut. That didn’t help, so he decided to do what the older players were doing and learn from mistakes.

And to not worry about what will happen a couple weeks from now -- at least not yet.

“You’ll drive yourself crazy trying to think about, oh, will I get cut or who are they going to cut or they could go this way and how many guys are they going to put on the practice squad,” Jones said. “There’s a million different ways to think about it and you’ll never be right.

“So you definitely just kinda got to worry about what you can control because what you can’t control, you really have no idea how it’s going to swing.”

In a close competition like this, those decisions might have not even been made yet.