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If you could count on anything in Detroit, it's that Jon Kitna's got an opinion. And he's going to tell you what it is. Any subject. Could be the patriarchal construct of Wiccan societies. Doesn't matter. Kitna's got something to say. So you better believe you're getting an earful if he thinks you're taking liberties with his receivers.

In the last morning of scheduled full-team two-a-day practices, Lions quarterback Jon Kitna watched as linebacker Buster Davis kept crushing his receivers.

Then, in a 10-yard, goal line passing drill, Davis slammed tight end John Owens, sending Kitna over the top.

The usually restrained Kitna ran across the line and started yelling: "Keep hitting him Buster. What's wrong with you?"

Kitna, who did all of this in front of his son, was restrained by defensive coordinator Joe Barry, who pointed out to Kitna that the hitting was fine because everyone was wearing pads (not to mention the fact that it's, you know, football).

This happens all the time in NFL training camps. Tempers rise. And when you're competing for a job, as Davis is, you're more likely to err on the side of making an impression. I'm sure the situation was reconciled later, with Kitna inviting Davis to his house for a prayer meeting. So nothing to worry about; Lions fans should just be happy to see some sort of fire from their team.

Despite a belief that Takeo Spikes didn't have the ability to be a starter in the NFL anymore, both San Francisco, where he signed, and Detroit, where he didn't, had visions of him running with their first teams. And now that Spikes has chosen the 49ers over the Lions, there's a hole at strongside linebacker in Detroit. Technically the Lions do have a depth chart at that position in that they've got names written on paper, but in an ideal world there will be a better option than Darnell Bing, Alex Lewis, or Leon Joe taking backs head on this season. And so a decision has to be made.

Spikes was the best option available, unless the team wants to try to finagle Bobby Carpenter, who has been a disappointment playing out of position in a 3-4, from Dallas via trade. So a bit of creative accounting is in order, and the Lions are pretty flush at middle linebacker.

Rookie Jordan Dizon, incumbent starter Paris Lenon, and Buster Davis, a talented 2007 third-round pick let go by Arizona, all reside in the middle, and the starter will either be Dizon or Lenon. The thinking is that the loser of that battle will automatically win the strongside spot. But for now it's all moot anyway as defensive coordinator Joe Barry keeps any potential leverage with outside help in tact by insisting nobody is changing positions. Don't expect that to last.

It seems smart to just move forward with the guys you've got and pick a guy to slide over so that he can get reps at that position, but that's not happening. And thus, the Lions will probably begin their season with an underprepared linebacker on the outside.

Former Florida State linebacker Buster Davis was a high third-round pick of the Arizona Cardinals in April. Surprisingly, he was cut last week when the Cardinals finalized their 53-man roster. Perhaps even more surprisingly, not a single one of the other 31 NFL teams put in a waiver claim for him.

So what will happen to Davis next? His mom says he's joining the Lions' practice squad.

"He's real excited about it, because Detroit has Ernie Sims, one of his old teammates at Florida State," Jackie Davis said. "He didn't sound upset or anything to me (about being cut.)"

Davis has a lot of talent, and he's probably a better fit in the Tampa 2 defense that Lions coach Rod Marinelli runs than he is in the defense that Clancy Pendergast coordinates in Arizona. As a practice squad player, he's a nice addition at a low price for the Lions.

But the folks in Arizona are questioning his attitude, and they're not pleased that he turned down a spot on the Cardinals' practice squad. For his mom to say he didn't sound upset about getting cut won't do much to change the perception that he doesn't care enough to take his game to the next level.

The Cardinals chose Florida State linebacker Buster Davis in the third round of April's NFL draft, but they surprisingly released him Friday.

Even more surprising: No other team claimed him over the weekend.

That means Davis had a preseason so bad that just months after being a first-day pick, he's going to have to settle for signing on some team's practice squad (I'm assuming he'll at least be able to do that) if he wants to be an NFL player at all.

No matter what happens, he's got the $610,000 signing bonus the Cardinals paid him before training camp, and that bonus will count against the Cardinals' salary cap. But as a Top 70 pick who can't even make a 53-man roster, Davis earns a dubious spot on the list of recent draft busts.

When the Arizona Cardinals announced their cuts yesterday, there was a surprising name on the list: linebacker Buster Davis.

Davis, the Cardinals third-round pick, had a rough offseason with Arizona and never really seemed to fit the 3-4 system they were running.

"(Buster) never really stepped up to what we needed," Coach Ken Whisenhunt said. "We said going in we would pick the best 53 for the football team and we made that clear. I had even spoken with Buster that his level of performance on the field was not quite what we had seen on the tape."

There is still a chance that the Cardinals may keep him on the practice squad, but even that is questionable. As noted above, Davis doesn't fit in with the 3-4 system and would probably be better suited to join a team using a 4-3.

Arizona is still on the hook for Davis' $600,000 signing bonus.

Other notable cuts were quarterback Shane Boyd, defensive tackle Jonathan Lewis, wide receiver Micheal Spurlock and defensive back Justin Wyatt.

Florida State's defense finally looked like the dominating crew most thought they would be this year in a 33-0 smackdown of Virginia. Even with all of the injuries to key players, the defense only gave up 190 total yards to the Cavs.

Xavier Lee didn't look quite as good as he did last week against Maryland, but he did enough to get the job done. He had a 37-yard TD toss to Chris Davis in the 3rd quarter and accounted for a team-leading 48 yards on the ground. Drew Weatherford saw a little time at the end of the game as well.

But this game was all about the defense for the Noles. On the first drive of the game, Tony Carter stepped in front of a Jameel Sewell pass and took it 35 yards for a score. Carter was on top of his game all day long. He is really stepping up as one of the elite shutdown corners in the country. LBs Buster Davis and Lawrence Timmons were making their presence felt all afternoon as well. Buster had 9 tackles and a sack for a safety. LT also finished with 9 stops and a sack of his own. Freshmen DE Kevin McNeil and S Myron Rolle had big days. McNeil had his breakout game with 2 sacks. Rolle joined Buster and the Law with 9 tackles, including 2 in the backfield. 2nd year CB Michael Ray Garvin played tough with 9 tackles and a sack.

Walk-on DE Eli Charles was a nice surprise, getting 2 tackles and blocking a punt in the 1st quarter which gave FSU the ball on the 1-yard line. Lorenzo Booker made it a 1-play drive as he jumped over the line for a TD. Antone Smith finished the game's scoring with a 3-yard run in the 4th.

I was very happy to see the cut back on the amount of penalties we commited. Only 4 flags for 35 against us on the day. I almost mistaked us for a disciplined team.

FSU plays a very tough Wake Forest team next week in Tallahassee. If the defense shows up like they did today, there's a good chance we can put a dent in Wake's dream season.

We are officially 1/3 of the way through the regular season. After the first 4 games, these are the Seminoles that stood out to me the most:

1. Buster Davis - No surprise here. Buster was named National Defensive Player of the Week after his dominating performance down in Miami and followed that with ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week honors (even though he's a LB, I don't get that one) in Week 2 vs. Troy. He has been as good as any LB in college this year.

2. Tony Carter - Carter is turning into the shutdown corner we all hoped he would become. Teams have avoided his side of the field as much as possible, even though he stands only 5'9". His 2 blocked kick returns against Clemson are the only reasons that game was even respectable. Hopefully he'll pick up right where he left off when he gets back from his knee injury in a couple weeks.

3. Andre Fluellen - With all of the injuries at the DT position, Fluellen has been counted on more than ever to carry the load inside. He has been an absolute beast, not allowing any sign of an opposing running game up the middle all season.

4. Lawrence Timmons - We haven't heard Timmons's name as much as anticipated this season, but that's not a bad thing. Buster has demanded all the attention (and deservingly so), but Timmons could be every bit as great. You rarely heard Greg Olson's name against Miami right? Guess why.

5a. Geno Hayes - Hayes was all over the field against Miami, making huge play after huge play. His development from his freshman to his sophomore season has really impressed. If he puts on 15 more pounds, watch out.

5b. Joe Surratt - In a valiant effort to sneak an offensive player onto this list, who else but the guy who has scored the most TDs on the team. Surratt has been the short yardage/goal line specialist, racking up 5 TDs in 4 games.

Just missed out: Marcus Ball, Gary Cismesia