Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford said any decision on whether or not he’ll play against the Minnesota Vikings in Sunday’s season finale will be based on his health after he injured his right ankle on the first series of Saturday’s loss to Tampa Bay.
It’s Stafford’s third significant injury of the season. He has been playing with a rib cartilage injury and an injured right thumb. He said as of now he doesn’t believe he will need surgery after the season.
“If the rest of me, if I’m good, I want to be out there. I want to play,” Stafford said. “Do everything I can to try and get there towards the end of the week and kind of have to figure it out, how it goes day-to-day, how it responds to treatment, all of that.
“But hopefully I can get it good enough to go and be out there.”
Stafford finished the drive and then had his ankle retaped on the sideline. Stafford said the ankle “rolled over the outside pretty aggressively there for a second,” and he thought he had maybe stepped on Buccaneers linebacker Devin White‘s foot.
Stafford tried to put pressure on the ankle, couldn’t and then hopped to the locker room to have it examined to make sure there were not any breaks or fractures.
He refused to be taken to the locker room on the cart.
“I don’t want to get on a cart unless I have to, to be honest with you,” Stafford said. “They told me they were going to bring the cart over and I told them no. I told them I would get to the locker room some other way.”
Stafford returned to the sideline in his jersey for the remainder of the first half and then wore sweats for the second half. He said he just couldn’t get the ankle back enough to move around well enough to play.
Stafford also did not want to address his future with the Lions after the season, saying he’s focused on trying to get back to play Minnesota on Sunday.
Lions interim head coach Darrell Bevell said they’ll monitor Stafford’s injuries throughout the week before making a decision on whether he’ll play. Stafford said he’s not concerned about his injuries — that’s what the offseason is for.
“That’s part of what the offseason is, right? But we’re not there yet,” Stafford said. “Part of the offseason is letting your body heal and feeling better. I signed up to play this year and part of signing up is hopefully getting 16 chances at it. Hopefully more than that but obviously we’re only getting 16 this year.
“I signed up for it and so did my teammates so if I’m healthy enough to get out there and do it, I want to be out there. You know, and I’ll figure that other stuff out.”