Jon Kitna said Wednesday the Lions wanted to replace him as their starting quarterback and used his back injury as a reason to make the change.

"They decided they wanted to go in a different direction," Kitna told Free Press columnist Mitch Albom in an interview on WJR-AM (760). "And I guess the thing for me is, that's fine. Let's just say that."

Asked earlier Wednesday if the Lions used Kitna's injury as an excuse to play young quarterbacks Dan Orlovsky and Drew Stanton, coach Rod Marinelli said: "No."

Kitna and the Lions disagree on a number of things regarding the decision to put him on injured reserve Tuesday, ending his season.

Kitna, 36, said he had experienced back spasms five times in his 13-year career. But he never had an MRI exam until he aggravated his back Oct. 5 against Chicago.

Kitna said the exam the following Wednesday revealed a bulging disk in his lower back that was causing a pinched nerve, and the Lions decided he would not play Sunday at Minnesota that night or the next morning.

"I was informed of it on Thursday morning that basically I had no chance of playing in the game," Kitna said in the radio interview.

Kitna said his back was "a little more touchy in the first couple of days" than it had been when he had back spasms in the past. But by that Friday, he felt he would be healthy enough to play.

"Was there reasonable cause to put me on IR?" Kitna asked. "Yeah, because they said there's a bulging disk. But the reality is, most guys have bulging disks. ...

"I really feel like I could have played last Sunday at probably above 90% health-wise. I played the last two years most of the time probably 75 to 80% health-wise with different type of things."

Director of athletic medicine Dean Kleinschmidt said the team told Kitna not to travel to Minnesota for medical reasons, and the medical staff recommended Kitna go on IR. He said Kitna had a disk injury in his lower back, after aggravating a preexisting condition.

"This one was pretty troublesome," Kleinschmidt said. "I think he'll tell you that it was at least as bad, if not worse, than the previous ones."

What is the earliest Kitna could have played?

"With a back injury, you absolutely don't know," he said.

Any time frame?

"Well," he said, "he's got to be at least six weeks."

For a player to go on IR, his injury must be serious enough to keep him out six weeks, under NFL rules.

Marinelli had stuck with Kitna since the start of training camp in 2006. If the Lions are playing for now and Kitna gives them the best chance to win, why not at least keep him on the active roster and see how his back heals?

"Well, that was just our decision," Marinelli said. "That's where we decided to go."

Kitna alleged the Lions had portrayed him as a selfish player, though he did not specify how. Kitna was unhappy when Mike Martz was fired as offensive coordinator after last season and has been critical of the Lions' offensive philosophy since.

"That's the one thing that really bothers me the most," Kitna told Albom. "You want to make a change? Hey, I can see that. I understand the position. I understand how things go in this league. But let's make a change and let's say what it is.

"I don't like the fact that somehow you're making me into being this selfish person or this person who was only out for himself, because that was never the case.

"If that was the case, then I would have tried to go a different route and get myself out of here in the off-season knowing the philosophical difference and the things we were going to do differently, which was obviously going to diminish the numbers I was able to put up individually."

Kitna said he would not rehab at Lions headquarters.

"I just think with how things are and the tension that had existed all year in the building in terms of my position and things like that, I think it was just best for both parties that we do it outside the building," Kitna said.

General manager Martin Mayhew has said there is no chance the Lions will release Kitna this season. Kitna has one year left on his contract and could have trade value in the off-season.

"I'm going to take this time to just try to get my body as healthy as I can get it," Kitna said. "Then in the off-season, they have a decision to make whether they're going to keep me or not.

"I'm not going to go and beg somebody to release me or do anything like that, because that's just not who I am. I let a man be a man, and if they want to make that decision, then so be it. They know I want to play football."