Lions' Ford gives NFL 'a piece of her mind'

Allen Park — Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford was in New York this week for the NFL's fall meetings, and coach Jim Caldwell indicated Thursday that she's spoken to league officials about the batted ball penalty that referees missed in the team's loss to the Seahawks Monday night.

Caldwell first referenced Ford's interaction with the league on his weekly radio interview on 97.1 FM before providing minimal clarification during his Thursday news conference at team headquarters.

"I said, 'Don't think she's just sitting around not saying anything, OK?'" Caldwell said.

However, when asked to relay details of Ford's discussions with the league, the coach declined.

"That's privileged information," Caldwell said.

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In the Lions' 13-10 loss to the Seahawks, following a fumble by wide receiver Calvin Johnson, Seattle linebacker K.J. Wright batted the ball out of the end zone, which should've given the Lions the ball at the 1-yard line with 1:45 remaining. Instead, the referees didn't call a foul, and the Seahawks took over and ran out the clock.

"Don’t think Mrs. Ford is not upset," Caldwell said during his interview on 97.1 FM Thursday morning. "Don’t think that she doesn’t give them a piece of her mind. She’s there at league meetings this week, or yesterday, and without question, that’s done."

Caldwell has said multiple times this week that he wants the players to focus on preparing for Sunday's game against the Arizona Cardinals. Safety Glover Quin said anything related to changing the officiating errors falls on the team's executives.

"From the organization's standpoint, front office (and) owners, that's stuff for them to deal with," he said. "As players, we can't change it. all we can do is go out and play, and at the end of the day, we're still 0-4."

Lions president Tom Lewand, who was with Ford at the league meetings, has not responded to multiple requests for comment related to the blown call Monday.

jkatzenstein@detroitnews.com

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