DETROIT — Cory Undlin was ready for the question.
The Detroit Lions' defensive coordinator signaled Tuesday he was through being caught off guard — at least in a news conference — when he whispered "there it is" while he was asked to explain why his defense had been caught with 10 players on the field for the second straight week.
"It's embarrassing is what it is," he said. "I would say this: It's just poor, poor coaching is what it is. I mean, you guys know how the situation works. I get the (offensive) personnel from (coaches in the press box), then based on the personnel — we don't really do anything until we know what the offense has out there.
"If we get confused or if our guys upstairs can't see it, or if — I know a lot of times I can just look over there and see who's coming in and who's coming out. Sometimes depending on where the ball is at, I have to rely on the guys that are upstairs, and they tell me, and then I call the personnel on defense, and they go out there. Each position coach is responsible for getting his guys on the field, and that's how it goes down. I make the call and that's how it goes down."
That certainly explained the procedural workings of how coaches decide which players to send out on the field. But it didn't shed much light on how the Lions made the same mistake in consecutive weeks.
In a Week 8 loss to the Indianapolis Colts, the Lions ran two plays with 10 defenders on the field. The Colts converted a two-point conversion on one and had a 6-yard run on the other. In Sunday's loss at Minnesota, the Lions appeared to be missing a right defensive end on Dalvin Cook's 70-yard touchdown run.
Lions safety Duron Harmon tried Monday to take accountability for the number of defenders on the field. But Undlin absolved Harmon of any guilt and said the responsibility of communication ultimately rests with him.
"It's poor coaching," he said. "I met with the whole defense yesterday and I told them exactly the same thing. We're trying to be critical of these guys, put a lot of pressure on these guys all the time. Then when we as coaches can't get 11 guys out there — that's on us.
"So the remedy is we have to do a better job. I heard some comments about Duron trying to stand up and say, 'Hey, man, I have to do a better job counting.' Duron has enough stuff on his plate. He doesn't need to be counting how many guys are on the field."
Undlin then repeated his promise of a week ago to not let it happen again.
"I know I said that last week," he said. "I failed you guys at that. I failed the players at that. But ultimately it comes back to me. But that's how it goes down. Coaches have to get their guys out there. We have to be on the same page. We have to make sure that we communicate to him on the sideline before the series starts so everybody knows. It's bad coaching."
