In a sudden turn of events, it sounds like Matthew Stafford will play tomorrow after all. NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport reports (via Twitter) that the Lions quarterback is “preparing to play” against the Titans.
Stafford landed on the injury report this week after suffering a hard hit from Packers defensive tackle Kenny Clark that knocked him out of last week’s loss. The rib injury forced the veteran to miss practice on Wednesday and Thursday, and he earned the ‘questionable’ designation after putting in limited work on Friday (per ESPN’s Michael Rothstein).
There was initial pessimism surrounding Stafford’s injury, and interim head coach Darrell Bevell said the team would likely wait to make a decision about their quarterback’s status.
“This may or may not be a workout situation,” Bevell said. “Obviously, the conversation of what he’s doing kind of on the side before we even get that far. But if we need to have a workout Sunday morning, then we’ll end up doing that as well.”
The former first-overall pick didn’t miss a single game between the 2011 and 2018 seasons. His 2019 campaign was cut short due to a back injury, limiting him to only eight games. Despite two separate stints on the COVID-19 list, Stafford has managed to play in each of Detroit’s 13 games this season. The 32-year-old has completed 63.9 percent of his passes for 3,522 yards, 22 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.
While it sounds like Stafford will be taking the field tomorrow, two key members of the offense will not. Wideout Kenny Golladay will miss his seventh consecutive game with a hip injury, while center Frank Ragnow is out as he recovers from a fractured throat.
Fractured throat? Damn
Definitely doesn’t sound like a fun injury to deal with. I’m not going to lie I thought it was a typo cause I didn’t even know it was possible to fracture your throat. Probably hard for him to even talk.
Yeah what even
Matt once played for Georgia three days after laying his scooter down on his way to class. Tore all the skin off his throwing hand. Wore a glove and played against a ranked Vandy team. 2 TDS 2 picks. Whatever your opinion is of him as a QB, he’s as tough as they come.
Matt is a throwback to those tough as nails players from the 50s who played both sides of the ball. Not many of those old school warriors still around.
its been a while since I watched it but I think there is a video from Staffords rookie year where he was mic’d up. He separated his non-throwing shoulder and came back in the game to throw a TD. Dude is as tough as the come.
Dislocated it and got it popped back in between plays. Threw the 2 point conversion to snap that insanely long losing streak actually!
Actually, I think the play in which he separated his shoulder was a pass interference call in the end zone. He remained in the game to throw the game-winning touchdown. Still an awesome play regardless
If his right arm is working, he is showing up to work. Hell, he was fighting last year with coaches to let him play with the back injury. He did not want to sit. Proud to have him as the Lions QB.