In a rather dramatic turn of events, Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is preparing to play on Sunday when Detroit visits the Tennessee Titans, according to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network. Stafford is officially listed as questionable due to a rib injury that he suffered last week against the Packers and it initially looked like the ailment would hold him out of Week 15.
He missed practice on Wednesday and Thursday but was able to participate on a limited basis on Friday, which was a positive sign that he might be able to gut it out. While Detroit wasn't optimistic that Stafford would be able to go, they were reportedly leaving the door open for him to possibly play given his track record of being one of the tougher players in the league at his position.
Interim head coach Darrell Bevell told reporters earlier this week that he does feel comfortable starting Stafford without much practice, but needed to be sure that he'd be able to overcome the pain that he'll be dealing with.
"Obviously he's going to have to make sure that he can handle whatever the level of pain that he's in," Bevell said Wednesday, via MLive.com. "I mean, that's going to be a big factor, and then can he function with that pain level, are really going to be the two things. We have great lines of communication. He's not going to do something that he's not able to do. So like I said, there will be other things that are in there, but right now, I'm going to be trusting him."
On top of the rib injury, Stafford has been limited at practice for the past few weeks due to a ligament injury in his throwing thumb. That injury hasn't sidelined him to this point and looks like he's making a push to not have this rib injury derail his playing time either.
In 13 games played this season, Stafford has completed 63.9% of his passes for 3,522 yards, 22 touchdowns and nine interceptions.