Detroit Lions right tackle Jon Jansen has played in the NFL for 10 seasons. Lions running back Kevin Smith just finished his rookie season.

Their experience in the league is very different. Yet as they prepare to battle for starting spots, they agree on coach Jim Schwartz’s idea of not having a fixed depth chart.
Jansen wasn’t supposed to beat out a much younger Stephon Heyer for the starting job last year in Washington, but he did. While Jansen, like any player, would like to know his status, he said he welcomes the chance to compete.
“Well, yeah, you always want to know where you stand,” Jansen said. “But at this time of the year, especially with an influx of new players, it would be really next to impossible to say this is our starting team.
“You want to leave the door open for somebody to come in. If you fix yourself in the sand — this is the starter — then it’s hard to back out of it. It’s hard as a coach ... you don’t want to say I made a mistake. You want to leave yourself open for competition and say this guy played well and he’s going to start.”
Smith — who began last season as the starter, gave way to Rudi Johnson for four games, then ended as the starter — also said he likes what competition brings out in him.
“Definitely,” he said. “In this business, you’ve got to compete. Everybody in the locker room, whether they start, they’re on practice squad or whatever, everybody here is good. Because you know what? If they weren’t, they wouldn’t be in the NFL. That’s how it should be.
“A lot of people say it but don’t mean it, but if you really stick to that, you’ll see players bring out within themselves what they might not have shown if you just stick them in the first spot. It’s good. I think that’s the way you should compete as a team. That’s what all the good teams do.”