As is the case in any sport, there's always a chance a tremendous, athletic ability will never really pan out because of injuries. No matter the cause -- the build of the body, luck, both or other reasons -- some athletes are more susceptible to injuries than others. And then there are athletes who are like the Nissan Altima in the Kidzilla commercial.
After Matthew Stafford's latest injury, though -- his third injury in just over a year with the Lions -- it's only natural to wonder if the 'injury-prone' label will follow him throughout his career.
Lions head coach Jim Schwartz doesn't think it will (via MLIVE):
Schwartz said he is not concerned "as far as a pattern or anything like that. But you are concerned when your quarterback gets hit. They've all been a little bit different situation.''
Does anyone really think he'd say anything else, even if he believed otherwise? The truth of the matter is that Stafford has had three fairly serious injuries in just two seasons with Detroit. The injuries have limited him to 11 games and the latest injury could force him to miss over a month of action.
The good news is that Stafford is only 22, so he has plenty of years to prove he's not injury-prone, and he didn't have any injury problems while he was at the University of Georgia. Unfortunately, it pains me (a lot) to say that 'injury-prone' is exactly what Stafford's been thus far as a Lion.