Stafford wants to start, finish Tennessee game
Don’t count Matthew Stafford out for the Lions’ Week 15 contest with the Tennessee Titans just yet.
The 12th-year passer is one of the toughest competitors in all of football, having dealt with a myriad of injuries throughout his tenure in the Motor City.
The latest ailment for Detroit’s franchise passer is a rib cartilage injury that he suffered this past Sunday against the Green Bay Packers.
Despite the ailment, he might still give it a go and play this Sunday in Tennessee.
If he does, he told reporters Wednesday that it’ll be because he feels he has a good chance to line up under center for the entirety of the game.
“I think it kind of boils down to being able to operate, (to) go out there, be able to throw it around, be able to feel good enough to know or at least give myself a good chance at finishing the game,” Stafford said, when asked during his weekly media session about what he’ll need to feel in order to suit up against the Titans.
He added that he doesn’t want it to be a situation where he has to exit the contest prematurely.
“Don’t want it to be one of those things where I go out there and do something weird early, and you’re out after the first series of the game or something. Not to say, I take a big hit. Who knows what could happen. But, I want to feel good enough to start the game, and then hopefully be able to finish it, as well. Play at a high level. All those things are things that are kind of a must, and we’ll see if we can get there by the
end of the week,” Stafford said.
Gutsy performance
If Stafford doesn’t play this weekend, veteran backup Chase Daniel is set to start under center.
No matter who ends up being the starting signalcaller come kickoff, though, Frank Ragnow might not be snapping the ball to him.
The third- year center suffered an extremely rare throat fracture early on in the Lions’ Week 14 clash with the Packers, and still managed to stay in the game.
The only problem is that as a result of the injury, his voice went hoarse, causing him to be unable to continue making calls from the line.
Subsequently, it became a group effort when it came to making the calls, and the quarterbacks and guards did just fine in picking up the slack, according to Daniel.
“It was the guards relaying the calls to the running backs, and obviously when I came in, it was all passes. So, that was easy for us to do as quarterbacks, while I was making all the calls and relaying them,” Daniel said. “We didn’t really
seem to miss a beat, and it’s pretty incredible when your throat is fractured and you’re used to making all the calls.”
Ragnow also did not allow a single sack, QB hit or pressure in the contest, according to Pro Football Focus.
It was a gutsy performance from the 2018 firstround pick, and it certainly left a mark on his teammates.
“He didn’t complain about it one bit. He just did his job. It was pretty impressive,” Daniel said.
Stafford echoed a similar sentiment.
“Pretty crazy that he was able to finish the game with that,” Stafford said.
As the game was going on, Lions running backs coach Kyle Caskey had no idea Ragnow was dealing with such an issue.
“Personally, I had no idea,” Caskey said. “... He looked like he was in the middle of a battle. So, it looked like just it was one of those games where he was just kind of beat up.
“I didn’t really notice it, and didn’t even know it until Monday. He did a good job of hiding it from us, at least. But, he kept playing through it.”