Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will try to play Sunday against the Tennessee Titans with broken rib cartilage, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Lions have listed Stafford as doubtful, with an injury to his rib and right thumb, but Stafford intends to play through any pain he has.
Stafford suffered a rib cartilage injury in the fourth quarter of last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers when he was hit by Kenny Clark and had to leave the game. He did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday and was not seen during the practice portion of Friday open to the press. He was listed as doing limited work.
Interim coach Darrell Bevell said on Friday that Stafford is feeling and moving better and that it is difficult to judge what that means because of his toughness.
Stafford said Wednesday that for him, the biggest factor in deciding whether to play is whether he can throw and whether his body will be able to cope with an entire game.
“I don’t want it to be one of those things where you go out there and do something weird early and you’re out after the first series of the game or something,” Stafford said. “Not to mention, take great success and who knows what might happen. But [I] I want to feel good enough to be able to start the game and hopefully be able to finish it as well. Play at a high level. “
Stafford said his diet to try to improve consisted of heat, ice, rest and exercise. He didn’t know, as of Wednesday, if he would need an extra liner or an extra wrap around his ribs if he were to play – although he joked, “he’s going to stick a pillow on my ribs or something.”
Information from ESPN’s Michael Rothstein was used in this report.