When the Lions assembled for a meeting Monday, coach Rod Marinelli put the team picture on the big screen. His message: They do not want that photo on exhibit at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, to represent the NFL's first 0-16 team.

"Nobody wants to be 0-16," running back Aveion Cason said. "Nobody wants to be a part of history, man. You don't want to go to Canton that way."

The Lions are 0-12 for the second time in team history. They have four chances to avoid immortal embarrassment.

Their first is Sunday against Minnesota. They beat the Vikings in 2001 to raise their record to 1-12, and their narrowest loss this season was Oct. 12 at Minnesota, 12-10.

"Where we're at right now, we need a win," Marinelli said. "I think they feel that urgency to go out and win. ... Each loss is a stake in your heart."

This was the first time Marinelli acknowledged the possibility of going 0-16 and addressed it with his players.

"He said, 'We're not going 0-16,' " Cason said. "We're not going 0-16, man."

That's not a prediction as much as it is a mission statement.

"We're going to win a game," Cason said. "I can't put it all on my back, but we're going to win a game. I'm going to go out and try my best to get a win."

Some players were glad to see Marinelli confront the issue directly.

"He might as well bring it up," left tackle Jeff Backus said. "We've only got four games left, so there's no reason to ignore it. He might as well present it and say, 'Hey, this is what you have a chance to accomplish.' "

Kicker Jason Hanson said: "I thought it was good. What good is it not say anything about it and pretend like it doesn't exist? We need to get our act together as players. I said that before.

"Everybody has to do something different and get that edge that playoff teams have that are fighting for wins. We've got to have that same edge. Whether we can do it or not, we'll see. But, man, if we don't come out firing this last four weeks, I wouldn't know what to say about that."

The tactic was a bit of a departure for Marinelli, who teaches players to play snap to snap and not look beyond the present day or the next game. But Marinelli does break the season into quarters, and he does pull back and show the big picture at times, too.

"I feel like Coach is always pretty straightforward with us, and he doesn't play a lot of games," Hanson said. "He's not a manipulator. I thought it was important for him to say that, that everybody here realizes that it's not OK just to feel like, 'Whatever happens, the end of the season.'

"Right now, something big is in front of us, and we have to do something about it. Again, whether we can or not, I don't know. But we should come out and look like a hard, great-effort football team and see what happens."

Hanson said Marinelli wasn't ranting or raving, nor was there a dramatic speech.

"He was just pretty straightforward about it and just put it out there, kind of like, 'Look, we're not playing games. This is the situation every one of us has put ourselves in, and it's there, and we better do something about it,' " Hanson said. "Again, I thought it was good. We should have a sense of urgency these last four games.

"Maybe a team that's out there that's 2-10 or something, maybe they won't, but we do. I appreciated it. It gives you a real focus for the end of the season."

Cason was on the 2001 Lions team that beat the Vikings to stop all the talk about 0-16. He said he talked to rookie Kevin Smith and the other running backs about it.

"I was just telling him, 'Man, you don't want to be a part of that,' " Cason said. "All I can do is share my experience with those guys and let them know, it can be tough, but we can scratch out (a) win here and there."

What was it like to scratch out that first one in 2001?

"It was like winning the Super Bowl," Cason said.