Matthew Stafford Injury: Will Lions Shut Down Star Quarterback?

Matthew Stafford

Getty Matthew Stafford after sustaining an ankle injury against the Bucs.

The Detroit Lions sustained another tough injury blow over the weekend when Matthew Stafford came up lame quickly against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and was forced to exit the game.

Now, Stafford’s injury might not be as bad as it first seemed, and the injury is being called an ankle sprain officially. It might not be a severe enough injury to keep Stafford out of the game this weekend.

That’s good news overall, considering the injury didn’t look great in real-time when Stafford was hobbling around on the field while not being able to return to the game. He was quickly shelved and Detroit’s already slim chances of winning went further down the tubes as a result.

Stafford, though, could be feeling better just in time to come back and play in the last game of the 2020 regular season. The question of whether or not he will, though, is still firmly up in the air.


Lions Will Wait and See on Matthew Stafford’s Status

The team wants to see how Stafford deals this week in practice before making the decision on Stafford. As Darrell Bevell explained on Monday, the Lions are going to play it by ear with Stafford once he gets in the building and they can see how the ankle is responding.

As to be expected, when asked about the injury, Stafford himself said that he wants to play Sunday but will go through the week and see where he’s at officially.


Watch Matthew Stafford’s Ankle Injury

Early against the Buccaneers, Stafford was hobbled after getting tangled up after a play with linebacker Devin White. He landed awkwardly on his ankle and had to eventually limp off the field and get attention from the trainers.

Here’s a look at the play:

Stafford was later called questionable by the team and left the game and gave way to veteran backup quarterback Chase Daniel, who came in and struggled in the next few series. Daniel couldn’t spark the Lions on his own, and was eventually replaced himself for David Blough. Obviously, without Stafford, the Lions were in worse shape for the game, but it has to come as a significant relief to both the team and the quarterback that the ailment isn’t worse at this point in time.

Whether Stafford plays or not this week will remain up in the air perhaps until the weekend, but it’s obvious the quarterback will do whatever he can to try and come back considering he’s one of the toughest players in the entire NFL.


Matthew Stafford Playing Though Insane Pain

This ankle injury will simply be yet another thing Stafford has to deal with late in 2020. Detroit’s quarterback has already been playing through a nagging thumb injury as well as a horrible rib cartilage injury in recent weeks. Stafford will never sit himself down, but at this point, it’s clear the Lions will have a big decision to make with regards to what happens next for Week 17 even if he can return to this game. Arguably, there’s no reason Stafford should be on the field whatsoever considering where the Lions are at and his health.

Regardless of that, it looks as if the Lions are going to at least see where Stafford is at this week before sitting him on the bench. The game could mean more for Detroit’s draft positioning than anything else, so most folks are probably hoping Stafford sits down for this one.

Even such, it’s hard to tell a gamer like Stafford that he has to sit out of any ballgame no matter the circumstances.

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