Stafford Back, Calvin Still Idle—Is Stanton No. 2?
NFL Countdown | by Mike O'Hara | 10.27.2009/4:50PM
Post a comment or e-mail Mike O’Hara at
Matthew Stafford returned to practice Tuesday – the Lions’ first day of practice after the bye.
That gave a strong indication that Stafford will start at quarterback against the St. Louis Rams on Sunday after missing two games because of a partially dislocated right knee.
Now the mystery centers on whether when wide receiver Calvin Johnson will return to practice from an injured right knee that kept him out of the last game, and which quarterback will be the backup – Drew Stanton or Daunte Culpepper, who started the last two games in place of Stafford.
Culpepper left the last game – a loss at Green Bay – with a hamstring injury. Stanton appeared to fill the No. 2 role in the portion of practice open to the media Tuesday afternoon.
Coach Jim Schwartz did not answer question related to Stafford in any depth.
Schwartz was asked what he could tell about Stafford from watching him practice.
“Nothing,” Schwartz told reporters after practice. “It was good to get a lot of our players back on the field today. We had just about everybody out there participating in some fashion, whether it was on the side, whether it was an individual only, whether it was team.
“That’s one of the things about having the bye week there, was being able to help us get some rest and being able to get some guys back for this week.”
Schwartz was asked if Wednesday is a big day for Stafford in terms of his recovery.
How players react to practice is important. If Stafford experiences undue swelling and soreness, it could be a setback.
“I think every day would be classified as big,” Schwartz said. “Say you go through Wednesday, Thursday and then Friday something happens. When you’re dealing with coming back from something, every day is big.
“You can’t have any setbacks along the way.”
Most of the other injured Lions returned, including rookie defensive tackle Sammie Hill, who missed three starts with an ankle injury.
Comments [1] |
