DETROIT --The $35.5 million Detroit Lions' training facility is new and plush. Reviews of the new stadium, Ford Field, couldn't be better. Yet the reconstruction sign still hangs on the 2-14 Lions.

"Everybody is dogging us, that's good," team president Matt Millen said. "We've improved our overall team speed. We have big-play capability. We have another year in the scheme (the West Coast offense). A different attitude makes a big difference. I just think this group believes that the players feel they are a little bit better."

The Lions front office is manned by two of the more relentless competitors in the sport. Millen, as a linebacker, was a warrior, smart and tenacious. Coach Marty Mornhinweg is a feisty former University of Montana quarterback who has a knack for developing young quarterbacks. Mornhinweg predicts the Lions will surprise teams.

	Hakim could get more looks than anticipated if Crowell remains hurt.

Maybe they will. The New England Patriots did. But last year's most destructive force, injuries, has carried over into this season. As the Lions went through the final tuneups for Friday's preseason opener against the Baltimore Ravens, a dozen players stood in varying degrees of non-uniform rehabbing ailments. Many were key players. Defensive tackle Shaun Rogers, linebacker Brian Williams, right tackle Matt Joyce, cornerback Terry Fair and wide receiver Germane Crowell have yet to pass their training camp physical and reside on the physically unable to perform list.

Wide receiver Az-Zahir Hakim rested on Wednesday because of a tight hamstring from Monday's practice. Seventh-round choice Luke Staley recently loosened stability in his surgically repaired right knee, and though he's leaning toward just wearing a knee brace, there are thoughts he may have to have season-ending surgery or even retire.

The Lions have one of the nicest and newest training rooms in the NFL. What they'd love to do is get players out of that room.

"All five of the guys on the physically unable to perform list are key elements of this team," Mornhinweg said. "Last year, we went through a horrific year for injuries. We were decimated early and then it got worse. The good news is that we will be getting those guys off PUP and when we do, we will be running."

The biggest concern is Crowell, who can't shake his knee problems. Millen and Mornhinweg chose to keep Crowell over Johnnie Morton and Herman Moore because of his potential to be a big-play receiver. In 1999, Crowell had 81 catches for 1,338 yards. He hasn't caught more than 34 in a season since then because of knee problems, and of the five PUP question marks, he's the one whose status could be uncertain throughout the month of August.

Here's the problem that causes. In two years, Crowell hasn't taken part in more than a dozen training camp practices in Mornhinweg's West Coast offense. That conversion can take anywhere from a year to two years for most receivers to get down the routes and adjustment. Crowell is 6-foot-3, 222 pounds -- ideal size for a flanker in this offense. With Crowell out, that job falls to Hakim, the game's most exciting third receiver who is 5-10, 189 pounds.

What normally happens to 5-10 flankers who do those dangerous crossing routes in the middle? That's right, they get hurt and end up in the training room.

	“	Joey is a great quarterback. He's real accurate and he has a real strong arm. But I can't worry about Joey. I'm a starting quarterback in the NFL, and I'm not doing my job if I'm worrying about Joey. ... Whether it's the quarterback of the present or the quarterback of the future, if you win games and are producing, it's kinda hard to be taken off the field.. ”
		— QB Mike McMahon, on competing with Joey Harrington for the starting job

"I can do all the things the bigger guys can do and better," Hakim said. "I know a lot of small guys out there with natural ability. I can break in and out of cuts, and I try to go out there and play the game the way it's supposed to be played."

Said Mornhinweg, "There are only a handful of guys who can overcome the size limitation, and he's one of them. He scores touchdowns."

All of these concerns affect the ultimate mission of this season -- developing first-round choice Joey Harrington to be the starting quarterback. Anyone thinking Harrington should be handed the starting job is crazy. Too much is working against him. The two starting receivers -- Hakim and Bill Schroeder -- are new. So is the tight end, 6-5 Mikhael Ricks. Of the three, only Schroeder has experience in the West Coast offense by coming from the Green Bay Packers.

Unless Harrington flat out whips Mike McMahon in four exhibition games, Mornhinweg will start McMahon and groom Harrington to be the starter sometime during the regular season when he has a better chance of being successful.

"I don't know about timetables; I just want to learn," Harrington said. "I want to be on the field. I don't want you to mistake my reluctance to come out and say that I want to be on the field. I'm fighting for that spot. But I don't know enough at this point and time to put the team in a good situation."

Figure this scenario. Mornhinweg wanted the mobile McMahon to get a chance to start as a rookie, but he had to wait until McMahon was ready. Charlie Batch didn't fit in the system in the eyes of Mornhinweg and Millen, so they traded for veteran Ty Detmer to buy time for McMahon to get ready. That didn't happen until Dec. 9. Barring an injury or a meltdown by McMahon, he will work with the first-team indefinitely while Harrington will get most of the backup work and post-practice work to prep him.

Detmer will be the short-term backup who needs only limited practice time to prepare because he's been in this offense long enough. Figure Detmer to be the opening day backup, but if there is a long-term injury to McMahon, then Harrington will be the man.

"Joey is a great quarterback," McMahon said. "He's real accurate and he has a real strong arm. But I can't worry about Joey. I'm a starting quarterback in the NFL, and I'm not doing my job if I'm worrying about Joey. Joey and I talk a lot, and we get along great. I'm not worried about him so much. I understand that the job is mine right now. Whether it's the quarterback of the present or the quarterback of the future, if you win games and are producing, it's kinda hard to be taken off the field."

The question is whether the Lions can win many games this season. Unless Fair makes a quick return, the cornerbacks will be Todd Lyght, 33, and Eric Davis, 34. Williams, 29, is penciled in as the starting strong side linebacker, but he has yet to practice.

Still, that's not as bad as a year ago. The Lions ventured into the season with five defensive starters whom they counted on that are now retired -- linebackers Stephen Boyd and Allen Aldridge, safeties Ron Rice and Kurt Schultz, defensive end Tracy Scroggins.

"Recordwise, it's really going to be us versus us," Millen said. "We have some young talent. We've had very good drafts. We've got 12 guys down right now, but the good news is that last year, six or seven of those guys who were down never came back. All 12 guys are going to come back and play. At least you know where you stand."

But standing room only in the nice, new training room isn't going to get it done.

John Clayton is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.