The Detroit Lions have quarterback injury problems and one of the best quarterbacks on the NFL free agent market just so happens to be set to showcase his talents.
Colin Kaepernick, who’s been out of the NFL since 2017 and fervor over his demonstration for social justice during the National Anthem, is having a workout in Atlanta. According to Matt Patricia, the Lions will be one of the teams in attendance to watch Kaepernick perform.
The Lions, of course, have Matthew Stafford entrenched as a starter, but with Stafford facing his back injury trouble and the team struggling without him, it makes sense that the front office would at least get a visual on Kaepernick.
As expected, plenty of the NFL teams figure to watch how Kaepernick performs, so it is not a surprise to see the Lions at least getting a look.
Matthew Stafford’s Injury Timeline
After Stafford was revealed to be sidelined with the ailment, ESPN’s Adam Schefter explained that while the injury could be shorter term in nature, the likelihood is that it would be a week by week thing the Lions would have to watch. Here’s a look at what he wrote:
“Stafford is now considered week-to-week with an injury that one source said could sideline him for “this week or 3 weeks.” Stafford had started 136 consecutive regular-season games entering Sunday, the sixth-longest streak for a quarterback in NFL history.”
Before the injury, Stafford was rolling along and having an MVP caliber season. Safe to say that all of this puts a major damper on that, no matter how much time Stafford is to miss. Stafford is a warrior however, and has never been shy about trying to play in the past through the pain.
Obviously, the major hurdle for him moving forward will be finding a way to get cleared by the medical staff for any type of return in the month of November with this news. This could have Stafford on track to miss games through Thanksgiving for the Lions, unless he can heal up any quicker.
The timeline presented by Schefter certainly jibes with what the internet doctors have said they see thus far.
Matthew Stafford’s Injury
Listed on the report with a hip and back ailment, Stafford picked up the back injury while playing the Oakland Raiders. The hip trouble had been lingering since the Kansas City game, but Stafford had found a way to play through the pain of that, and was actually looking better on the injury report in the weeks since. The back injury limited him in practice most of the week leading up to the Chicago game, casting doubt on whether he’d actually play. Reports in the hours before hinted Stafford could be in trouble, and the decision was quickly made to sit him down on Sunday morning ahead of the game against the Bears.
Late last season, Stafford dealt with broken bones in his back as well and played through the pain, and the back injury in consecutive seasons has become a troubling trend for the quarterback. With the Lions depending on Stafford in not just the present but the future, they will have to be careful about how they proceed in this case.
At the very least, the hope is the injury remains relatively minor as some of these reports could hold. What that means for Kaepernick’s status for the Lions is anyone’s guess.
For now, though, the team is getting a look at him up close.
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Lions Reveal Their Plans for Colin Kaepernick Workout