Roary
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- Mar 18, 2019
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Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford tore cartilage in his rib cage in Week 14’s loss to the Packers and didn’t practice to start last week, which seemed to point toward a missed game for the veteran starter.
Stafford didn’t miss Sunday’s game, however. He started and played most of the way in a 46-25 loss to the Titans that dropped the Lions’ record to 5-9 on the season.
After the game, Stafford admitted that he “didn’t think I was going to be able to play” because of the injury and explained why he did push to play despite being in pain from the injury.
“Because I’m the quarterback of the Detroit Lions, and it was Sunday, and I got a bunch of teammates out there that work their ass off,” Stafford said, via Kyle Meinke of the Detroit Free Press. “They fight to be available, fight to get out there and play and try and help us win. If there’s any way I can play, I’m never going to not, you know? It’s just I feel like I owe it to those guys. I owe it to the game. I owe it to this organization — everybody. If I’m good enough to play, healthy enough to play, my ass is going to be out there.”
Stafford was 22-of-32 for 252 yards and a touchdown in an effort that wasn’t enough to overcome a pair of lost fumbles and an ineffective defense. It was likely enough to win even more respect from teammates who saw the leader of their offense put his health concerns aside in hopes of helping his team.