ALLEN PARK, Mich. � Matt Stafford has gotten the hazing this week that any No. 1 pick would expect from his veteran teammates.

The Detroit Lions quarterback also has gotten something more important: their respect.
�I�ve never been on a team where we drafted a quarterback in the first round, much less with the first pick,� defensive end Eric Hicks said. �So far, he�s more than lived up to the hype � he�s been very impressive.�
That didn�t stop Hicks from getting in one verbal shot on his newly wealthy quarterback. After chasing Stafford on a bootleg, Hicks called over to the rookie and offensive coordinator Scott Linehan: �Keep running like that. I�m picking up the hundred-dollar bills that are falling out of your pockets.�
Hicks was happy to see Stafford took the teasing well.
�Scott was cracking up and Matt laughed,� Hicks said. �That�s what you want to see.�
Indeed, Stafford used the incident as an example of how well he has been treated by the team during his first three-day session of organized team activities.
�The veterans have been very welcoming. They are going to greet anyone who wants to be here and wants to work hard with open arms,� he said. �They are ahead of the rookies because they�ve had the other OTAs, but I feel very comfortable with the offense � at least what we�ve put in so far � after the rookie camp and a lot of studying.�
Stafford said he hasn�t had any problems with the two veterans who he is battling for the starting spot, Daunte Culpepper and Drew Stanton.
�Daunte has been great. He�s been doing this for a long time and I�m learning a lot from him, and Drew�s been helping me as well,� Stafford said. �It helps that we did a lot of the same things at Georgia, so as long as I understand the play, I usually get the underlying concepts.�
Stafford�s arrival has caused a dramatic improvement in Culpepper�s and Stanton�s play, a development that doesn�t surprise Lions coach Jim Schwartz.
�Of course,� he answered with a smile. �Any time you have a high draft pick enter the equation at any position, that�s going to happen. It changes the dynamic, because every player in the locker room knows where he was drafted and why, so they have to pick up their game.�
Schwartz juggled the quarterback rotation throughout the three-day camp, but said it wasn�t a move designed for those players.
�We did that with every position group,� he said. �I�ve been saying all along that this is an entirely open competition and that we�re going to play the guys that show us the most. You can�t do that if you�ve already sorted the team into groups in May.�
Of course, Schwartz acknowledges that is a lot easier with a team coming off the first 0-16 season in league history.
�We aren�t talking about a team that went deep into the postseason last year,� he said. �In a situation like that, you don�t want to upset the apple cart. In this situation, upsetting the apple cart is exactly what I�m trying to do.�