ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- It is a situation the Detroit Lions want to avoid at any cost, but like any football coach, they have to have a contingency plan.

So what would the Lions do if quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Dan Orlovsky both were injured in the course of a game? The obvious answer might seem like Kellen Moore, but it would be impractical for Detroit to keep three quarterbacks on a game-day active roster.

And they can’t just randomly activate Moore, so they would have to look somewhere else.

"I’m sure both Joique (Bell) and Golden (Tate) will fight over that," offensive coordinator Joe Lombardi said. "They both, deep down, consider themselves great quarterbacks."

Quarterbacks without any experience, though. Tate has an extensive baseball background, including playing collegiately at Notre Dame. Bell attempted 17 passes in college at Wayne State, completing nine for 280 yards and four touchdowns.

He has an almost-unreal quarterback efficiency rating of 257.2 in his career. Bell joked Friday that he has "a cannon" for an arm.

"I don’t really get into rundowns of what other people can do. I can only speak from what I can do, and I can launch that ball down the field," Bell said. "If you need me to hit a 5-yard out, I can hit that. If you need me to hit a comeback, or audible something, work the Cover 3, whatever the coach needs me to do. I’m here for the team.

"Big team, little me."

The Lions, of course, hope it doesn’t come to that.

As for a fight over who would play? The Lions might not have to worry about that, either. Tate appeared to somewhat concede the position to Bell when he was asked about it Friday.

"I think I have a better arm and I think I have better placement," Tate said. "But because Joique knows the blocking schemes because he is a running back and he has to know who to block, I think he would do a better job of managing the offense.

"... I wouldn’t fight (over it). I like scoring the touchdowns. I’ve already thrown a touchdown in my career. So been there, done that."

The Lions would prefer if neither one ever has to do it at all.