Matthew Stafford Injury Update: Lions QB To Start Against Broncos

Although no starter at quarterback was officially announced earlier in the week by Detroit Lions head coach Jim Schwartz, all signs pointed to Matthew Stafford. Despite suffering an ankle injury last week against the Atlanta Falcons, Stafford practiced with the first-team offense on Thursday and Friday, and the reports about his mobility were promising.

The expectation by Friday was for Stafford to be the starter against the Denver Broncos, and he confirmed on Sunday that he will in fact be in the starting lineup.

Stafford tells Ed Werder of ESPN that the third-year player will indeed start on Sunday, despite a sprained ankle.

In the offseason, Stafford vowed to play in all 16 regular season games after injury issues derailed the first two years of his career. A week ago it looked like any hopes of a full season had gone by the wayside, but Stafford remains on track to play all 16 by starting on Sunday.

Matthew Stafford Injury Update: No Starter Named For Sunday

Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford continues to practice and continues to improve. He initially injured his ankle against the Atlanta Falcons and since then has been in a walking boot and unofficially doubtful for Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos, and then out of it and unofficially looking like he's going to start on Sunday. As is the usual case with Jim Schwartz, he's not going to say whether or not Stafford will be starting on Sunday, but he did have some comments about Stafford, via mlive.com

"I'll just say that he's better today than he was yesterday," Schwartz said. "Hopefully we can keep him on that track to Sunday. ...I don't know officially if he's a game-time decision," Schwartz said. "We won't announce anything before then."

Reports on Thursday were that Stafford was practicing with the first-team offense and looking good, so if he's looking better on Friday (though we don't know how much he's practiced, officially), then it's likely that he'll be good to go and Shaun Hill won't have to get the start. With Jahvid Best's status still up-in-the air, this is good news.

Matthew Stafford Injury Update: Detroit Lions QB Again Taking First-Team Reps In Practice Friday

There is more positive news regarding Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford. Lions beat reporter Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press is reporting that Stafford once again took first-team reps on Friday. According to Birkett, there "doesn't seem to be any doubt" about Stafford playing in Sunday's game against the Broncos, as he is once again first in the QB rotation.

The Lions are slight favorites for Sunday's game in Denver, and having their starting quarterback ready to go will certainly be a big boost to the team. Considering that Jahvid Best is looking very likely to miss his second straight game, the Lions definitely didn't want to lose another key starter in what should be an evenly matched game.

Stafford rolled his ankle in last Sunday's loss to the Atlanta Falcons, and the Lions are lucky that he has been able to bounce back so quickly.

Discuss your relief or anxiousness, as the case may be, with your fellow Lions fans at Pride of Detroit.

Lions Injury Report: Jahvid Best, Matthew Stafford Statuses Unchanged

The Detroit Lions injury report that was released on Thursday didn't reveal anything new for the second straight day, in part because of the fine reporting people do during the actual practice. For the second straight day, then, Jahvid Best was again held out of practice while Matthew Stafford was limited in the repetitions he took under center.

Since the news on Best isn't the best, as it were, let's take a look back at what was said about Stafford earlier Thursday.

On Thursday, Stafford appears to be practicing without any limitations. According to theDetroit Free Press' Dave Birkett, Stafford is "moving fine" and is getting the No. 1 reps. Hill is back with the second-team offense, suggesting that Stafford is on track to play on Sunday. Obviously things could change if a setback happens, but this tweet from Birkett sounds promising: "Stafford doing a full complement of handoffs on dropbacks and out of the gun. I'm no doctor but ankle looks fine to me."

The rest of the injury report went relatively unchanged from Wednesday's rendition. Rashied Davis and Nick Fairley both missed practice due to injury and Sammie Hill also didn't practice Thursday due to a new "illness" according to the injury report.

If one is looking for good news, both Gosder Cherilus and Chris Houston were limited in practice on Thursday after missing Wednesday's practice due to injury. Vincent Fuller and Willie Young were also limited for teh second consecutive practice.

Matthew Stafford Injury Update: Lions QB Reportedly Taking No. 1 Reps

Although he was on the practice field on Wednesday, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was limited. Backup quarterback Shaun Hill took the first-team reps in order to prepare for Sunday's game against the Denver Broncos in case Stafford can't play.

On Thursday, Stafford appears to be practicing without any limitations. According to the Detroit Free Press' Dave Birkett, Stafford is "moving fine" and is getting the No. 1 reps. Hill is back with the second-team offense, suggesting that Stafford is on track to play on Sunday. Obviously things could change if a setback happens, but this tweet from Birkett sounds promising:

Stafford doing a full complement of handoffs on dropbacks and out of the gun. I'm no DR but ankle looks fine to me

In other injury news, running back Jahvid Best, offensive guard Rob Sims and defensive tackle Nick Fairley are missing from Thursday's practice. On a more positive note, offensive tackle Gosder Cherilus and cornerback Chris Houston returned after being out on Wednesday.

Detroit Lions Injury Report: Jahvid Best Did Not Practice, Matthew Stafford Did

The Detroit Lions first injury report of the week didn't reveal anything that hadn't been reported earlier. It did confirm, however, that Jahvid Best missed Wednesday's practice and Matthew Stafford was limited as his reps didn't come with the first team offense.

Stafford's injury was probably the biggest thing to watch this week considering Detroit fans knew it was certainly possible that Best might be unavailable once again this week as he continues to recover from a concussion. As reported earlier Wednesday, the Lions quarterback was able to practice, but took a limited role as back-up Shaun Hill took the first-team reps under center.

Best was held out of practice completely on the other hand. Weekend statuses aren't reported on the initial injury report of the week, but the fact of the matter is that it currently seems as though he's questionable at best to play against the Denver Broncos this weekend.

Nick Fairley, Gosder Cherilus, Rashied Davis, Sammie Hill and Chris Houston also all sat out Wednesday due to injury. Safety Vincent Fuller defensive end Willie Young, both limited due to injury along with Stafford, round out Wednesday's injury report for Detroit.

The Broncos only listed three players on their version of Wednesday's report. Along with running back Willis McGahee, who isn't expected to play against Detroit, defensive end Elvis Dumervil (ankle) and tight end Julius Thomas were put on the Denver injury report.

Matthew Stafford Injury Update: Lions QB Practicing On Wednesday

Matthew Stafford appears to be getting ready to play on Sunday against the the Denver Broncos. According to the Lions' official Twitter account, Stafford is at practice today and has his helmet on as if he is going to practice:

QB @Staff_9 with shoulder pads on, warming up before practice.

Stafford is battling a knee/ankle injury, and he is questionable for Sunday's game with Denver. He is one of several players that is questionable for this week's game, but it appears he is going to give it a go. Shaun Hill is taking the first-team reps, however, according to Chris McCosky:

Hill has completed his only pass attempt this season for 28 yards, but he did start 10 games last season as Stafford battled injuries throughout. Hill threw for 2,686 yards and 16 touchdowns in 2010. He did struggle with turnovers, however, as 12 of his passes were intercepted and he fumbled three times.

For more on Stafford's status visit Pride of Detroit and this stream throughout the week.

Matthew Stafford Injury: Lions QB Considered Day-To-Day

Matthew Stafford had an MRI scheduled for his knee/ankle on Monday, and while we don't have any information on how that MRI went for the Detroit Lions quarterback, the Detroit Free Press is reporting that it is, in fact, an ankle injury folks should be worried about and not a knee as previously thought, and then offered :

Schwartz: "He's got an ankle, knee's not an issue" .. Wouldnt say what MRI showed but if it showed something "he'd be more than day 2 day ... On Stafford, Schwartz said I "don't think by the time we get to Wednesday the knee will be listed" on the injury report.

What these two tweets are saying is kind of forwards-and-backwards. Stafford's ankle is the key concern, the knee isn't expected to hamper him, but no details about the ankle injury are available at this time. The knee injury is minor enough to the point where he expects it to be off the official injury report by Wednesday, but he could be out for longer with an ankle injury?

That confusing bit aside, the Lions tweeted something that clears it up a little more:

Said Schwarz: Stafford "no more than day-to-day" with an ankle injury.

That's a lot more clear, then. Stafford has an ankle injury and should be qualified as day-to-day, which is a lot better than "doubtful," or "we don't know."

Matthew Stafford Injury: MRI Reportedly Scheduled For Monday

Sunday went from bad to worse for the Detroit Lions when quarterback Matthew Stafford suffered an injury on their final offensive play of the game. He scrambled to the left to avoid pressure and went down awkwardly after throwing a pass. An Atlanta Falcons defender fell on his ankle, which appeared to be rolled.

Stafford received treatment on the sideline and limped off the field after the game was over. It's clear something is wrong, but what specifically is not currently known. To get to the bottom of it, the Lions have scheduled an MRI on Monday, according to both FOX Sports' Jay Glazer and Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio.

Matthew Stafford suffered a right leg injury late in Sunday’s loss to the Falcons.  Per a source with knowledge of the situation, Stafford will have an MRI to examine whether and to what extent he has damage to his knee and ankle.

Glazer reported that Stafford was in a walking boot following Sunday's game. That makes it seem unlikely he will be able to play next Sunday against the Denver Broncos, but then again, until he has the MRI it's probably not even worth speculating about.

Matthew Stafford Injury: Lions QB Hurt In Loss To Falcons

As bad as the Detroit Lions' loss to the Atlanta Falcons was, the more worrisome thing going forward is what happened on the Lions' final offensive play of the game. On fourth down, Matthew Stafford scrambled out to the left to avoid the pressure and had his leg rolled on after he went down. It's unclear if he injured his ankle, foot or knee, but Stafford limped off the field.

The Lions didn't get the ball back, so it's not clear if he would have been able to return or not. While the Falcons were running out the clock, though, Stafford was being looked at by trainers. It looked like they might have been taping his ankle, which appeared to be rolled on by a Falcons defender. Stafford is reportedly going to get an X-ray to see what exactly is wrong.

It's obviously much too early to speculate about his status for next week, but it's worth noting the Lions play a 2-4 Denver Broncos team before having a bye week. If this is something minor but the Lions don't want to risk playing Stafford next week, they might be able to get away with keeping him out until after the bye week.