ALLEN PARK — While the X-rays on Matthew Stafford’s right, throwing hand were negative after Sunday’s loss at Baltimore, the injury is not insignificant.
It’s unclear if Stafford will be available to start on Sunday when the Lions play the Bucs in Tampa Bay.
Stafford was limited in practice on Wednesday. He did not throw in the portion open to the media, but he worked on hand-offs.
“He’s not out of the woods yet, we have to see what he can do as the week goes on. It’s not some insignificant injury, that’s not the case. It’s something that he’s going to have to work at, deal with in the course of the week to see where he is. It’s not like he’s out of the woods,’’ coach Jim Caldwell said on Wednesday morning.
Stafford said on Wednesday morning that he will take it day by day this week. He wouldn’t address whether he plans to play on Sunday. He said he’s in less pain than he was immediately after it was injured on Sunday.
Stafford, who has started 108 straight games, has played with hand injuries before. “Yeah, every one of them is different. This one is just the same. So, you got to kind of figure out what feels good, what doesn’t, and go from there,” Stafford said.
At his weekly press conference on Wednesday he was asked to show the media his hand and he said he’d would rather not.
The incident occurred in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s game just after Stafford threw an interception. His hand was stepped on in a pile-up. In no way did it appear intentional. He left the game and immediately went to the locker room for X-rays. Jake Rudock took over at quarterback.
Stafford has started 108 straight games going back to Week 1 of the 2011 season.
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