ALLEN PARK -- Tampa Bay Buccaneers coach Greg Schiano hung up on Detroit reporters during a teleconference Wednesday after a question about the MRSA outbreak that infected at least three players.

He answered the question, then hung up fewer than 6 minutes into the call. That's roughly half the length of the average weekly call.

No coach has hung up during the session in years.

Greg Schiano has come under fire during his second season as Tampa Bay's head coach.

"There's so much misinformation about that whole issue -- not just with our instance, but in general. The fear that people with a lack of understanding," Schiano said when asked about the MRSA.

"The reason I can say that is I didn't understand. But MRSA is everywhere, and it's a matter of practicing good habits and hygiene and all that stuff. I think we're doing fine with that. Unfortunately, it affected some of the players and their health, and certainly our environment here as far as distractions go.

"I'm glad that's in the rear-view mirror, and this team's doing nothing but looking forward. Guys, I appreciate it, I'll see you on Sunday."

The Detroit Lions (6-4) host Tampa Bay (2-8) on Sunday at Ford Field.

Schiano has come under serious fire for the Buccaneers' 2-8 start, as well as the panoply of off-field distractions. That includes a highly publicized divorce with former quarterback Josh Freeman -- the NFLPA reportedly believes Schiano leaked confidential drug-program information to the media -- as well as the MRSA outbreak.

MRSA is a staph infection that is resistant to some antibiotics. It has infected guard Carl Nicks, kicker Lawrence Tynes and cornerback Johnthan Banks.

Nicks had to have surgery, while Tynes is on the non-football injury list.

"It's been real tough," Schiano said. "You put so much effort into it -- so much of yourself into this thing. The way we lost -- we lost so many last-minute ballgames, games that obviously when you lose them you feel like you should have won it.

"It was hard. And then there were a lot of off-the-field distractions, things going on that we had to push off to the side and make sure we stayed focused. The one thing I did see is our football team through the adversity grew closer. We have a great group of people in that locker room, a great group of coaches upstairs in the offices, and they're very, very close. That to me is what makes a team. We're battling through it, we've got a couple wins and now we have probably our biggest challenge of the season. We have to go tackle this one."

Schiano had time to touch on a couple other subjects before ending the call. He seemed particularly excited by the play this season of his star cornerback, Darelle Revis, and his matchup with Detroit receiver Calvin Johnson.

"You're talking about the one of the best to ever play his position in the history of the game," Schiano said of Johnson. "There's plays on tape where there's three guys surrounding him and he just jumps up and rips the ball out of the sky."