Jeff Backus, a former Michigan and current Detroit Lion lineman, has stopped talking to the media during the NFL lockout. Sort of.

MLive.com's Tom Kowalksi wrote about Backus' vow of silence today, noting that the 33-year-old lineman will gladly talk about "kids, family, vacation, Tigers, weather ... " after recent player-organized workouts. But the lockout, the Lions and his contract are off limits.

From the MLive.com article:

As far as the Lions are concerned, Backus sees what a lot of us see -- the potential to become a pretty strong football team. But what is there to say? Backus has said plenty in the past about the promise of a new head coach, a new system, a new season ... and none of it ever panned out.

This time around, he's going to let the actions speak louder than the words.

What's interesting about Backus' vow of silence is that for 10 years he was always a guy you could count on after the game. No matter how miserable the loss might have been, he would stand at his locker and take the bullets and try to explain the unexplainable. He did it because he felt it was his duty, not just as a leader, but it was part of the job.

You get the strong sense that Backus doesn't believe the media should be allowed at these player-organized workouts and that these player-only sessions should really be player only. Other teams around the league have adopted that philosophy -- the Panthers hired a cop to keep the media out -- but most teams have not.

Regardless, when the lockout finally ends, Backus will go back to talking to the media and he'll discuss the football team. What he probably won't talk about even then, though, is his contract.

Backus is on the final year of his deal and getting him back on the roster for the 2012 season must be a high priority for Lions general manager Martin Mayhew. The Lions have built -- potentially -- an extremely explosive offense but it all rides on the quarterback (as most NFL offenses do). One of the keys to strong quarterback play is efficient production out of the player who protects his blind side, the left tackle.