ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- DeAndre Levy wanted no part of answering questions as to why he was missing the start of Detroit Lions training camp on the non-football injury list.

The linebacker wouldn’t say what was wrong. He wouldn’t say when or how it happened. He wouldn’t say when he thinks he might be back, other than he is not concerned it will keep him out for a long time.

Instead, any time he was asked anything about his health status, he came back with a variation of the same answer: Ask Jim Caldwell.

“C’mon man, you ask the questions different ways if you want, but Caldwell can probably tell you better than I could,” Levy said.

In all, Levy had different variations of "Ask Caldwell" nine times in an interview that lasted a few minutes after practice. He did say he did not believe Caldwell knew what he ate for dinner last night and that his six weeks between OTAs and training camp were “all right. It was cool. It goes by quick.”

Other than that, he deferred all questions to Caldwell.

Levy’s injury is a concern because he missed all but one half of one game last season with a hip injury he suffered during the preseason soon after signing a contract extension. The injury eventually required surgery, but he returned and practiced during spring workouts.

So things seemed to be going well, at least until Friday, when he was placed on the NFI list.

And when Caldwell was asked about Levy’s placement on the NFI list, he said he “certainly” expects Levy to be a big part of Detroit’s defense this fall. Caldwell would not say whether the NFI placement is related to his hip injury last season.

“We just kind of want to be careful with him,” Caldwell said. “Just make certain he’s ready to go, and I anticipate he will be at some point in time. So if it was something long term that we deemed as being long term, you certainly know that I would let you know that.

“But at this point in time, we just want to be a little bit prudent in terms of how we deal with him.”