Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford will try to play Sunday against the Tennessee Titans with a torn rib cartilage, a source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter.
The Lions classified Stafford as questionable with an injury to his rib and right thumb, but Stafford plans to play with any pain he has.
Stafford suffered a costal 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 working during the Friday part of open practice in the media. It was noted that he was doing a limited job.
Interim coach Darrell Bevell said Friday that Stafford feels and moves better and that it’s hard to judge what that means because of his toughness.
Stafford said Wednesday that, for him, the most important factor in deciding if he will play is whether he can throw and whether he believes his body will be able to handle an entire game.
“You don’t want it to be one of those things where you go out and do something weird early and be out of the first series of the game or something,” Stafford said. “Not to mention, have great success and who knows what might happen. But [I] i want to feel good enough to be able to start the game and i hope i can finish it too. Play at a high level “.
Stafford said his regime of trying to improve consisted of heat, ice, rest and movement. I didn’t know, as of Wednesday, if I needed an extra padding or extra wrap around my ribs if I wanted to play, though he joked, “I’d stick a pillow on my ribs or something.”
This report uses information from Michael Rothstein of ESPN.