ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Matthew Stafford took some of the blame.

Now dealing with his third offensive coordinator in less than three seasons, the Detroit Lions quarterback put part of offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi's firing Monday on himself and his inability to be more productive.

“Joe was receptive to the things I had to say,” Stafford said. “If anything, it was probably I got to do a better job of communicating, too. It’s on everybody when bad stuff happens, and I can always be better too.

“Joe’s a stand-up guy and I really enjoyed working with him. It’s not one person. When it gets to this point, it’s a lot of people involved.”

As a quarterback, Stafford said, he has to be partially to blame because he runs the offense.

The Lions fired three people Monday -- Lombardi and offensive line coaches Jeremiah Washburn and Terry Heffernan -- but that was really a culmination of a bunch of offensive issues that carried through the season-and-a-half Lombardi was running the offense. Detroit never appeared to find any offensive rhythm and was no longer the group that had been one of the most prolific offenses in the league under former coordinator Scott Linehan.

But Stafford said Monday there was never a disconnect with Lombardi and that he felt the former Lions coordinator had some good stuff in his playbook. The Lions just never really were able to execute it well. Those struggles led to a change needing to be made, although it was tough to see it be a personnel one.

“You never want it to be where you lose somebody, part of the family,” offensive lineman Manny Ramirez said. “We never want to see that because we all get so close, one again, but unfortunately things like this happen. It is a business.

“It is day-to-day and it could happen to anybody. Unfortunately, it happened to our side of the ball.”

So now the Lions move on with Jim Bob Cooter -- another first-time play caller -- as the team’s offensive coordinator. The Lions believe it could help because he has developed a strong rapport with Stafford as his quarterbacks coach.

But since he’s never called plays before, there is a bit of an unknown what could end up changing -- and what could end up staying the same. And with less than a week to prepare for Kansas City in London, it’s tough to see how much could change in the short term. That’ll be for Cooter and Jim Caldwell to decide, including how much downfield passing could be incorporated into the offense.

“In the middle of the season, I don’t know,” Stafford said. “I’m answering that as honestly as I possibly can.”