Judging by Sunday's 38-14 loss to Jacksonville, rookie running back Kevin Smith said the Lions don't have their opponents' respect anymore on the field.

“They thought we were a joke,” Smith said Monday, reiterating comments he made after the game (check my previous blog for those quotes). “They said we sucked. They were saying that to me, I sucked, and I told them they sucked, too. And they said well, not as bad as us. And I said you're right. We haven't won one game.”

Smith wouldn't say who was doing the trash-talking, but said Sunday was the first time he heard players cracking jokes about the Lions during a game.

“We're 0-9 so you can't look for really any teams to respect you,” he said. “You got to go out there and earn your respect and you only earn your respect by winning. So therefore, in nine games we haven't earned any respect. We play hard, we get close. But if you look at an 0-9 team or an 0-8 team when you play us and say you beat the Detroit Lions by a point, you don't look at it like, 'Oh, we respect them because we only beat them by a point.' No, you might look at it like, 'Uh, we slipped up. We played to their level.' I guess that's how they look at it when they beat us close.”

Before Sunday's blowout, the Lions lost their previous four games to Chicago, Washington, Houston and Minnesota by a combined 21 points.

“The only way to get respect (is) you got to beat somebody,” Smith said. “When a boxer boxes, you're respected by a win or a knockout. You're not respected by a close decision. No one cares about that.”