‘I Just Go Play:’ Matthew Stafford Not Sweating Lions Coaching Rumors

Matthew Stafford

Getty Matthew Stafford gestures during a game against Jacksonville.

The Detroit Lions have struggled this season, but Matthew Stafford isn’t worrying too much about the future of his coaching staff or front office.

Stafford has seen this rodeo before, a pair of times to be exact. His first coach Jim Schwartz was swept away after the 2013 season. Jim Caldwell, who had some modest success, lost his job after 2017. Now Matt Patricia’s seat could be warming after a shaky start to an important 2020 season.

Stafford, however, isn’t interested in worrying about the variables he can’t control. Instead, he’s focused on winning games and competing on the field, something he told reporters late last week.

Stafford said:

“I just go play. That’s all you can do. You guys talk, speculate and do all that stuff, we go out here and work and try to play. If we were thinking about that, I would probably be gone 5, 6, 7 years ago. I just try to go play, do my best, help this team be as successful as I possibly can. We work a lot in the offseason behind closed doors. We owe it to each other to go out there and play as good as we possibly can, and that’s what we’re working towards.”

Stafford’s own future could be more up in the air, but it’s clear he wants to continue to try and play the game rather than thinking about any changes. Stafford makes a great point, too. If he had obsessed about rumors as the Lions quarterback, he would have lost his mind years ago.

Matt Patricia Still on Hot Seat

Detroit’s win against Jacksonville on Sunday offered Patricia a temporary retrieve. The team is 2-3 now and theoretically has a better chance of making a run given their schedule than they had a week ago. Still, that doesn’t mean that Patricia is out of the woods yet. The tough start to the season puts him in tough territory the rest of the way. Patricia is going to have to make a serious run through the rest of the season in order to avoid getting in trouble by the end of the year. With more losses, he could find himself in trouble

Matthew Stafford Committed To Lions

This offseason, rumors swirled that the Lions wanted to move on from Stafford or were looking for some kind of fresh start, but the rumblings were quickly refuted by the front office and in time proved to be false. Stafford himself has also maintained that he wants to stick with the Lions well into his future, something his wife and family have echoed. Though they put their house on the market earlier this offseason, the reasoning had nothing to do with Stafford wanting out but merely wanting a change of houses.

Stafford’s future in Detroit might be determined by a new front office in time, but for now, he remains committed to the team and wants to keep doing what he does for the franchise.

Matthew Stafford Career Stats

Long considered one of the more accomplished young passers in the NFL, Stafford has put up some serious numbers after being Detroit’s No. 1 pick in 2009. He has put up 42,265 passing yards and 265 touchdowns coming into Week 7 of the NFL season. In spite of these numbers, Stafford has not been able to win a playoff game or an NFC North title thus far in his career. Those remain the black marks on the resume at this point, and those are the things Stafford will have to change about his resume in order to alter how folks view him moving forward.

Nobody questions Stafford’s work ethic and the effort he puts in. His mindset is also to be commended at a time where things could get away from anybody considering the struggles on the field.

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