ALLEN PARK — Detroit Lions general manager Brad Holmes delivered his anxiously awaited year-end press conference Thursday.

Much like coach Dan Campbell, Holmes gave himself a failing grade for this season. He put it simply: There is still football being played, and here he was speaking with reporters instead of prepping for the postseason.

The Lions fell from back-to-back division titles, including a franchise-best 15-win season, to miss the postseason and only finished above .500 after a Week 18 win. The standard has changed, and Holmes knows that not reaching the playoffs is a failure.

Here are six takeaways from what Holmes had to say:

There is urgency to rebuilding the offensive line as the Lions await Taylor Decker’s decision

Holmes didn’t go as far as Dan Campbell did in referencing lessons learned from Frank Ragnow’s retirement as Taylor Decker contemplates his future. But Holmes said the Lions will act with urgency to attack those question marks on the roster.

Holmes said it would be “irresponsible” to crown Giovanni Manu as the tackle in waiting if Decker does retire, and that he will have to earn his spot in his third season. The Lions spent a fourth-round pick on Manu two years ago.

Holmes said they have never ignored the offensive line, and fans would be surprised to hear the number of moves Detroit tried to make. But trying to make moves and pointing at all those efforts won’t fill those holes.

“If it happens again, like I was saying, it’s never been ignored,” Holmes said. “It’s like — you know it’s going to come at some point. As good as — let’s call it a more veteran offensive line than we’ve had in the past, that has been comprised of a lot of good players, at one point, four first-round picks at one point. It’s never been ignored. But you also, you can’t just reach and just make a move to just make a move. You can reach for a tackle or just make a move for a tackle and that player is not as good enough of a replacement.

“I’m not sure what Decker is going to decide to do. Not only will it have to be urgent this offseason. But it’s been urgent in the past … I don’t think, I could be wrong, but I don’t think that we’ve ever gone into an offseason with a question mark or a hole, and we didn’t attack that position with urgency. But sometimes it just doesn’t work out as well as we hoped.”

Don’t expect Frank Ragnow to walk through that door

The Lions learned Ragnow’s retirement fate in late May, well after the draft. There were hints and bread crumbs that the All-Pro center might be done, and Holmes said they did their best to prepare.

“There hasn’t been a Frank Ragnow since Frank Ragnow,” Holmes said.

Detroit drafted Tate Ratledge in the second round and talked about moving Graham Glasgow back to center from guard. Ratledge is still a potential option at center. But Ratledge has never taken a snap at center through his four years at Georgia or through his rookie season in Detroit. And Glasgow had his second straight rough finish to the year.

Holmes said after Ragnow unretired and then failed his physical, the two sides went their separate ways.

“I’m sure a lot of the guys still keep in contact with him,” Holmes said. “But nothing concrete about seeing if he wants to give it a go.”

David Montgomery may have played his last snap in Detroit

Montgomery’s usage dipped considerably. He had around 30 fewer carries despite playing three more games this year compared to last. The Lions love Montgomery and know he deserves a bigger role.

But it’s telling that before Montgomery’s two-year extension has even kicked in, the Lions need to have discussions about his future. Holmes wants Montgomery here, and it’s easy to imagine that offensive coordinator candidates would prefer that, too.

Jahmyr Gibbs is a rare type of superstar. He always was going to carve out a bigger piece of the pie with each passing season. But the Lions aren’t paying Montgomery to be an afterthought.

“Look, those are discussions that we’re going to have to have a lot more in-depth in terms of what is the best plan for him going forward, is it somewhere else or whatever the case may be,” Holmes said. “Just really appreciate everything that he has done for us, if it does end up going that way. I hope it doesn’t because we love David Montgomery. He’s a good football player and I wish that we would’ve been able to get more utilization from him. I know Dan (Campbell) feels the same way.

“But those are conversations we’re going to have to have because I’ve got a lot of respect for that player. He deserves to be in a situation where his skillset can be utilized, and so yeah, I would love for it to be here, but if it can’t be here, then you’d just love to see where it could work out best for him.”

Firing John Morton was made with a fresh start in mind to move forward

It took less than 48 hours from the end of the season for the Lions to move on from offensive coordinator John Morton. They’ve been linked to David Blough and Mike McDaniel as options they want to speak with.

Holmes and Campbell are known to have a truly collaborative process regarding the roster. There is a trust, and it didn’t take long for them to realize fresh eyes were needed at offensive coordinator.

It’s the second consecutive offseason the Lions are searching for an offensive coordinator, and Holmes mentioned “detail-oriented” as one of the key wishes in the next one. That is worth noting, because the exquisite attention to detail the Lions had with Ben Johnson just wasn’t there with Morton.

“But I mean, there has to be leadership, there has to be detail-oriented, there’s got to be command of the room,” Holmes said. “You just have to be able to know that there’s somebody that’s going to be able to dot every ‘I,’ cross every ‘T’ and make sure that nothing is compromised from a detail standpoint, from a standards standpoint, from the start of the game-planning period all the way ‘till the end of the week.

“So, I do think a lot of it is just you’ve got to just get in front of them, hear them out, spend some time with them and kind of hear their ideas, hear their philosophy, do a lot of vetting — as much vetting as you can — and just make the decision. But I think when you go through the process of getting in front of them, when you know, you know.”

Upcoming extensions are a priority, but more information is needed with Branch and LaPorta

Jack Campbell and Jahmyr Gibbs are eligible for extensions this offseason. Holmes said the draft-develop-retain philosophy is still alive and well, and getting new deals for those two is viewed as a priority.

The linebacker looks primed to add an All-Pro nod to go along with his first Pro Bowl after a true breakout campaign. And Gibbs just tied Randy Moss and Barry Sanders for the most games with a touchdown (31) through a player’s first three seasons.

But when it comes to safety Brian Branch and tight end Sam LaPorta, who also are eligible for new deals, more medical information is required. Branch suffered a season-ending Achilles injury and faces an uncertain timeline. LaPorta’s year was over after undergoing back surgery to help with a herniated disc. Even though LaPorta and the Lions are targeting a return by training camp, it’s uncertain.

Branch and LaPorta are cornerstone pieces. Holmes wasn’t able to speak with any certainty on either.

“I do think that the priorities for those players have not changed, but obviously, more medical information has to be gathered,” Holmes said. “So, it’s a little bit too early to say that because of those injuries happening that that’s freed up to get other guys.”

Why did it take so long to put Kerby Joseph on IR?

Joseph went through a season filled with stops and starts, and eventually it just stopped. The All-Pro safety, who received a big-time extension last year, suffered a knee injury in training camp. It resurfaced once the season started, and he still notched three interceptions in six games.

The Lions rested Joseph before the bye week, with the hopes his issue would calm down. But after one last setback down the stretch, he was placed on injured reserve, and that was that.

Joseph played his last game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Oct. 12. The Lions placed him on season-ending injured reserve more than two months later on Dec. 20. Holmes is holding out optimism that the rush to try and rehab to get back on the field is being replaced with a full offseason to get right.

“Kerby really wanted to be out there. Kerby, he earned that extension,” Holmes said. “I knew how excited he was to — I feel like he’s already shown the world the type of player he is, but now that he got the extension, I feel like he really wanted to show the world why he got that extension.

“What became hard was you’re trying to urgently get healthy enough to play during the season, and that’s really the reason why we waited so long to put him on IR because he was making strides of progress during the season, where, ‘Maybe another week, maybe in two weeks.’ When he had that last recent setback late — bottom line, I’m just glad Kerby’s in a spot now where he’s not urgently trying to get healthy. He’s going to have the necessary time to get the rehab and treatment he needs to get as healthy as he can.”