Lions QB Matt Stafford will not play this week and I'm told a return for Week 5 is "possible," but far from certain. The Lions have a bye in Week 7, so will carefully gauge his shoulder and determine if the extra rest/recovery time makes more sense, but he is making strides
The Lions play the Rams next week and have a road game against the Giants before their bye week. If Stafford would benefit significantly from the extra few weeks off, then it makes sense to simply wait to play him until after the bye, as La Canfora pointed out. If he is healthy enough to give it a go next week, however, it may be worth playing him in one of the seemingly few winnable games on the schedule.
It will obviously all come down to where Stafford's rehab is at next week, as well as if the coaches feel if it's too much of a risk to potentially rush him back a week or two too early.