ALLEN PARK — Calvin Johnson missed practice today (Monday) and had his left index finger bandaged. He said it’s no big deal. “It’s football,’’ Johnson said.

Coach Jim Schwartz said it was good to give Johnson a day off from camp because he doesn’t regulate himself, he goes all out.

It’s the same with Kyle Vanden Bosch who twisted a knee last week. He goes all out in practice usually, but has been held out and didn’t play Friday. Schwartz said Vanden Bosch is week to week.

Louis Delmas, who had surgery six days ago, watched practice from an outdoor balcony.

Missing from practice were WR Patrick Edwards (calf), RB Mikel Leshoure (hamstring), RB Jahvid Best (concussion), LB Chris Greenwood (abdomen) and DT Sammie Hill (back).

Titus Young was the standout at Monday’s practice making double moves on corners and displaying a high energy level.

He was back at work after leaving Friday morning to head to California for the birth of his son, Titus Demetrius Young Jr. Young took the red eye back, landing in Detroit this morning. So he was fighting jet lag, but still had a great camp day and celebrated by signing numerous autographs afterward. More on Titus Young later today at TheOaklandPress.com.

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Cris Carter may not agree, but Calvin Johnson is the best at what he does. Even the NFL Network checked in this week ranking him No. 3 among all NFL players. Here are three reasons that Calvin Johnson is the best receiver in the NFL.

1. Despite double- and sometimes triple coverage he comes down with the ball. His height, strength, concentration and athletic ability put him heads above most everyone else.

2. Johnson remains humble. He says with a straight face that he knows he can get better and puts in the work to make that happen.

3. He’s got a great quarterback in Matthew Stafford to get the ball thrown his way. The best receivers still need someone to get them the ball. This best receiver has one of the NFL’s best quarterbacks throwing to him.

(Until the start of training camp, the Lowdown lists will appear daily, Monday through Friday. Follow @PaulaPasche on Twitter. Email her at Paula.Pasche@oakpress.com.)

So how does one improve on perfection?

OK, so Lions’ Calvin Johnson is not exactly perfect, he’s pretty close.

That doesn’t mean the Pro Bowl wide receiver isn’t working hard to improve this offseason.

“There’s always room for growth,’’ Johnson said on Wednesday. “If you feel you’ve reached your point of where you don’t have anything to work for more any more ... Just myself I always know there’s something I can work on every year. That’s my motivation.’’

Johnson had a career season in 2011 with 1,681 receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.

Not perfection, but closer than anyone else.

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ALLEN PARK — Way back when, Barry Sanders was chosen to be on the cover of Madden 2000. Good selection for an all-pro running back.

Then before the season started, Sanders up and retired.

That awful Madden curse. Many Lions fans can’t forget it. They’d rather anyone but a Lion appear on the cover of the Madden video game.

Calvin Johnson doesn’t believe in it. The Lions wide receiver is a finalist, along with Panthers quarterback Cam Newton, to be on the cover of Madden 13, the only NFL-licensed console video game. The winner will be announced Wednesday.

“Not a big guy for curses, don’t even think about it,’’ Johnson said. The curse has resulted from players gracing the Madden cover only to have a less-than-stellar season.

It’s a big deal to get the cover and Johnson wants it for a few good mostly unselfish reasons.

“Looking forward to it, it’d be very cool to have that, it’d be good for the city, good for this organization, and especially good for my foundation,’’ Johnson said on Tuesday.

Johnson explained if he gets the cover it would benefit his foundation financially.

“They like some things I’m doing in the neighborhood back home (in Atlanta) and starting to transfer some of those things up here,’’ Johnson said. “That’s definitely a steppingstone to start doing some of that stuff.’’

Johnson’s teammate Nate Burleson believes in the Madden curse, but thinks if anyone could break it, it would be Calvin Johnson.

Since he plays in the NFL for a living, he’s more into FIFA (soccer) now. He did play Madden while at Georgia Tech.

“Everybody played Madden coming up. Everybody saw the guys that were on the cover. I remember when I was in college I was a big Madden player, it’s a big deal, it’s a big deal for ballplayers,’’ Johnson said.

Newton produced a seven-minute video urging fans to vote for him. He also challenged Johnson to a showdown playing Madden.

Johnson says he is planning a video response involving the receivers. He said to keep an eye out for it.

He’s heard from fans, some who don’t want him on the cover because of the curse.

“It’s not surprising, you’ve been hearing about the curse forever. It doesn’t surprise me, i hear about it from the fans,’’ Johnson said. “Most fans want me to get on it, it’s a lot of good things for the city. Some fans don’t want it because they’re big football fans, it’s going to be good either way.’’

Johnson beat out Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski in the votng to make it to the finals. The online poll can be found at ESPN.com.

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Matthew Stafford had his day at ESPN a few months ago. Tuesday it will be Calvin Johnson’s turn.

The Lions wide receiver will appear on most ESPN shows Tuesday starting with SportsCenter at 10:45 a.m. and ending with NFL32 at 6 p.m., per information from Kevin Seifert of ESPN.com.

Stafford had some fun, throwing to ESPN staffers from the roof of one building down to the field.

“It was fun, it was a good time. I spent a day out there in Bristol (Conn.), they had me doing the dog-and-pony show all around,’’ Stafford said on Monday. “It was fun, it was a blast.’’

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ALLEN PARK — Eight Lions were missing from practice this afternoon including starters Calvin Johnson, Justin Durant (concussion), Stephen Tulloch and Amari Spievey.

Also out were Titus Young, Rashied Davis (foot), Erik Coleman (leg) and Jason Fox (foot).

Rookie Nick Fairley practiced for the first time since Sept. 29. That day was his only practice since he broke his foot early in training camp. That does not mean he will play on Monday, but it’s an encouraging sign.

Wednesday’s practice was a bonus day for the Lions (4-0) who will host the Chicago Bears (2-2) on Monday Night Football at a sold-out Ford Field.

The Bears had Wednesday off.

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ALLEN PARK — Well, well what do you know. Cris Carter has now backtracked on his comments about Lions wide receiver Calvin Johnson.

Two months ago Carter named six NFL receivers he claimed were better than Johnson.

Johnson grabbed a pair of touchdown catches in Sunday’s 34-30 win over the Cowboys to tie Carter’s record of scoring two touchdowns in four straight games.

On Monday, Carter changed his mind.

“Right now, Calvin Johnson — there’s a king in every crowd, and he’s the king of the National Football League as far as wide receivers,” Carter said on ESPN Radio via ProFootballTalk.com.

Now, has anyone heard from Rob Ryan?

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Here are five things we’ve learned about the Lions following their remarkable 34-30 comeback win over Dallas at Cowboys Stadium:

1. The Lions are resilient. Last week at Minnesota they were down 20-0 at the half and came back to win in overtime. It was quite the effort, but nothing compared to Sunday when they were down 27-3 in the third quarter. Their mantra in such situations is just make a play, then make another. And then they are confident enough to go out and do it. Unbelievable.

2. Depth helps. Linebacker Justin Durant, who led the team in tackles the first three games, was out with a concussion. In stepped Bobby Carpenter who made the first big play of the game. Same thing in the secondary when Amari Spievey and Erik Coleman missed time with injuries. With the heavy rotation on the defensive line they were able to stay somewhat fresh even though they were on the field for 12-plus minutes in the third quarter.

3. Matthew Stafford is all that. He and the offense struggled in the first half, but his teammates said he remained calm, cool and collected. They take on his personality on the field, so maintaining his cool is essential. One cool cat.

4. Calvin Johnson doesn’t need to say anything to Cris Carter or Rob Ryan, he just lets his play do his talking. We’re only four games in and I’m running out of adjectives to describe the big guy.

5. These Lions are for real. Period.

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Here are five things the Lions (3-0) must do to beat the Cowboys (2-1) on Sunday at Cowboys Stadium:

1. Contain linebacker DeMarcus Ware. The Lions did a good job containing him last year when they lost 35-19. He’s got five sacks in the first three games. Stafford was sacked five times last week so there’s no doubt the offensive line has been working on protecting the franchise this week.

2. Run the ball. The Lions have had some trouble in this area, they already miss Mikel Leshoure. It could get tougher against the Cowboys who excel at stopping the run. However, in Minnesota they used short passes to Brandon Pettigrew to take the place of the run game. That might work again.

3. Get the ball to Calvin. Don’t think this will be an issue. Calvin Johnson and Matthew Stafford have connected for a pair of touchdowns in each of the first three games. Stafford is a little angry about Cris Carter’s lack of respect for Johnson so he might try to find him even more often.

4. Get to Tony Romo early. Romo is still hurting with a broken rib and while Ndamukong Suh said it’s not his style to target an opponent’s injured area, suspiciously Suh knows it’s on his right side. But seriously if Suh lands on any part of Romo’s body there will be pain. It’s always the goal to rattle the quarterback early and this is no different.

5. Maintain attitude. While the Lions have become national media darlings — heck it was just two years ago they were 2-14 — they know that all they’ve done is win three games. They have to maintain that hunger and at the same time play with confidence. They’ve done it for three games. If they keep their eyes off the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders (just kidding) there’s no reason they can’t do it again.

Prediction: Lions 31, Cowboys 27

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ALLEN PARK — Calvin Johnson (ankle) was back at practice today (Thursday). It appears Johnson might be on the same rest schedule as Kyle Vanden Bosch who gets Wednesdays off each week.

Also returning was safety Louis Delmas (abdomen) and John Wendling (knee).

Still missing in action from the part of practice open to the media were Justin Durant (concussion), Rashied Davis (foot), Nick Fairley (foot) and Jason Fox (foot). Davis is seeing a specialist in Charlotte, N.C., today.

Kicker Jason Hanson was named the NFC special teams player of the month.

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ALLEN PARK — Anyone who thought rookie DT Nick Fairley was close to playing, guess again. After practicing for the first time on Friday since breaking his foot in training camp, he did not practice today (Wednesday).

Four starters didn’t practice including Calvin Johnson (ankle), Louis Delmas (hip), Justin Durant (unknown injury) and Kyle Vanden Bosch who does not practice on Wednesdays for rest purposes.

Rashied Davis, who was out with a hamstring injury last week, was on the sidelines wearing an orthopedic boot on his right foot.

Also out were Aaron Berry and Jason Fox.

CB Anthony Madison, one of the Lions’ final cuts on Sept. 3, was at practice wearing No. 30. Look for him on special teams to replace LB Isaiah Ekejiuba who was placed on injured reserve with a shoulder injury.

Practice squad moves: WR Owen Spencer was signed while Tim Toone was released. TE Cornelius Ingram who was on the practice squad injured list has also been released.

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Calvin Johnson (ankle), Louis Delmas (hip) and Cliff Avril (knee) are listed as probable for Sunday’s game at the Minnesota Vikings. All three practiced on a limited basis on Friday.

DeAndre Levy (knee), Brandon Pettigrew (shoulder), Maurice Stovall (hand) and Rashied Davis (hamstring) are listed as questionable. They also saw limited practice.

Rookie Nick Fairley practiced for first time on Friday since breaking his foot in practice early in camp. But don’t get too excited, he’s got a long way to go and is listed as out for Sunday, along with Jason Fox (foot).

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ALLEN PARK — They say time heals all wounds, well for many of the Lions’ starters it just took a day.

Six starters missed Wednesday’s practice and five of them returned on Thursday. Back at work were Calvin Johnson (ankle), Louis Delmas (hip), DeAndre Levy (knee) and Cliff Avril (knee).

Kyle Vanden Bosch was back, as expected, after taking his regular Wednesday off for rest. Apparently it worked. When players were lined up to jog down the field before drills, he and Matthew Stafford had a foot race. Vanden Bosch won in a squeaker.

Brandon Pettigrew (shoulder) was still out along with Rashied Davis (hamstring, Nick Fairley (foot) and Jason Fox (foot).

Gosder Cherilus was lining up with the offensive line starters for the second straight day. On Sunday Corey Hilliard started at right tackle.

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ALLEN PARK — Nine Lions sat out practice today (Wednesday) including six starters.

WR Calvin Johnson (who had rolled ankle last week), S Louis Delmas (who had hip pointer last week), DE Cliff Avril, TE Brandon Pettigrew (shoulder) and OLB DeAndre Levy were out.

DE Kyle Vanden Bosch was out as expected. He will not practice on Wednesdays this season.

WR Rashied Davis didn’t practice.

Also, Nick Fairley and Jason Fox have yet to start practicing. Each had a broken foot.

In practice squad moves WR Tim Toone (Mr. Irrelevant) was re-signed while CB Donovan Warren (Michigan) was released.

In earlier news today, Jason Hanson was named the NFC special teams player of the week for the 11th time in his career. He kicked two field goals and six extra points on Sunday in his record-breaking 297th game with the Lions.

The Lions plan at the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday. They haven't won there since 1997.

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ALLEN PARK — Safety Louis Delmas (hip pointer) and wide receiver Calvin Johnson (ankle) returned to practice today (Friday). Neither practiced on Wednesday and Thursday.

Delmas, who was practicing on a limited basis, said on Thursday he expects to be a game-time decision, although his recovery pace has been good so he thinks there’s a good chance he will play.

Johnson said earlier this week that he expects to play on Sunday.

Wide receiver Maurice Stovall (hand) and cornerback Alphonso Smith (foot) have been practicing all week on a limited basis.

The only absentees were DT Nick Fairley and T Jason Fox. Both are coming back from broken feet.

The Lions host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday at Ford Field.

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ALLEN PARK — Calvin Johnson (ankle) and Louis Delmas (bruised hip) missed the second straight day of practice today (Thursday).

Johnson said on Wednesday that he rolled his ankle and it was not a big deal. He also said he expects to play on Sunday vs. the Kansas City Chiefs.

Delmas was nowhere to be seen on Wednesday. On Monday coach Jim Schwartz said Delmas had bruised his hip in the win on Sunday and he was in “we’ll see” mode.

Veteran DE Kyle Vanden Bosch will have Wednesdays off of practice during the season. He returned today as expected.

Nick Fairley and Jason Fox, who both had broken feet, are getting closer to healthy, but neither practiced Thursday.

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ALLEN PARK — Three starters missed practice today (Wednesday).

Safety Louis Delmas, who bruised his hip late in Sunday’s win at Tampa, was out along with WR Calvin Johnson. His injury is not known, but he fell hard on his back making one catch on Sunday.

Also missing was DE Kyle Vanden Bosch, but that was expected. Coach Jim Schwartz said that Vanden Bosch, a veteran, would be rested on most Wednesdays.

Lions president Tom Lewand announced that Sunday’s game vs. the Chiefs has been sold out which lifts the local TV blackout.

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DETROIT — Running back Mike Bell is inactive for tonight against the New England Patriots in the third preseason game for both teams. He’s the only Lion who will be inactive who had not been ruled out on Friday.

Wide receivers Calvin Johnson and Titus Young are active. Not sure how many reps Johnson will get, he has been slowed in practice with a sore shoulder. Both were game-time decisions.

Those who were ruled out on Friday are: Jahvid Best, Kyle Vanden Bosch (sore shoulder), Jason Fox (foot), Nick Fairley (foot), Mo Morris (hand) and Alphonso Smith (foot).

Best sustained concussion in previous game, so he’s being kept out as a precaution.

Aaron Brown will start in place of Best, while Lawrence Jackson will start in place of Vanden Bosch.

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ALLEN PARK — Two key offensive players are iffy for Saturday night’s sold-out, nationally televised preseason game against the Patriots at Ford Field.

Running back Jahvid Best and wide receiver Titus Young both practiced on Wednesday, but Saturday is questionable.

Best suffered a concussion in Friday night’s win at Cleveland. He said it wasn’t bad and when he showed up on Sunday he expected to practice. But he was shut down until Wednesday. Afterwards he said he felt fine. Earlier in the week, coach Jim Schwartz said Best might not play Saturday just as a precaution. Best had concussion issues in college so they are taking it easy bringing him back.

Young, who missed most of the start of training camp with a hamstring injury, has practiced for four straight days. Tuesday and Wednesday he made it through the full practice after easing in on Sunday and Monday. He’s itching to play, but said he doesn’t know whether he will see his first preseason action on Saturday.

Kyle Vanden Bosch and Calvin Johnson, who both have sore shoulders, did not practice again on Wednesday. There is no reason to rush the veterans back out onto the field for Saturday’s game.

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ALLEN PARK — Rookie Nick Fairley has taken another step toward getting back to practice. The cast has been removed from his left foot and replaced with a walking boot. He watched Tuesday's practice from the sidelines on the field.

He had surgery two weeks ago. At the time the Lions said the fist-round defensive tackle would miss a significant portion of training camp.

He couldn’t be on the field with his teammates while in a cast and walking with crutches, it would be too dangerous.

Fairley said he’s taking it day by day, doing rehab and hopes to get back as soon as possible.

In other practice news on Tuesday, Calvin Johnson who didn’t practice on Sunday or Monday with a bruised shoulder was back at it.

Cornerbacks Chris Houston (groin) and Eric Wright (groin), along with DT Corey Williams (ankle) did not practice. Their injuries are not considered long-term.

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