Speaking to the media on Tuesday for the first time since his wife Kelly underwent brain surgery, Matthew Stafford sounded upbeat about her health and happy to be back on the field with his teammates.
"I've got an obligation to this team that I love fulfilling. I want to be here," Stafford said after day two of OTAs. "We got a new offense, I'm having a blast trying to learn it and teach these guys as well. At the same time, had a lot going on at home and (the organization) was really flexible with me in letting me kind of come in on some off hours and make sure that I was taking care of my duty to the team and then being able to be at home as well."
Kelly had surgery in April to remove a very rare type of benign brain tumor known as acoustic neuroma. She said last week that a doctor sent by god saved her hearing during the operation. Her recovery, for the most part, has gone well.
For Stafford, who did his best to stay involved with the Lions' offseason program in the immediate aftermath of the procedure, football sometimes provided an outlet. Then again, it was hard to keep Kelly out of his thoughts.
"It was tough. It was both," he said. "Some days Kelly had a good night and I was here loving it. Kelly had a bad night, I was trying to get home as fast as I could. It's been up and down, just as we kind of expected it to be. But everybody here has been extremely supportive and so have my teammates. They understand. They know that I'm committed, I'm dedicated to this team and our future and our season, but those guys have families too and understand how important that is as well."
Asked if he and Kelly have moved past most of the scary moments, Stafford didn't want to speak for his wife. But it does sound like they're beginning to turn the page.
"I don't feel what she feels. She can try to explain it to me, but I've never had that done to me, so I'll let her kind of do that stuff," Stafford said.
He added, "There's been some long days and some tough times, but like I said, ton of help, ton of support, and a strong wife to help me out."
With the Lions installing a new offense under Darrell Bevell, Stafford knows there's lots of work to be done in the coming months. He's eager to make headway, spending as much time at the team facility per week as league rules will permit.
"What are we allowed to have with the CBA? Four hours, five hours? Something like that," Stafford said with a laugh. "No, a lot of time. Epecially as the quarterback, I have to be the coach in the huddle too. There's questions that come up when you're installing a new offense. We break the huddle, maybe a guy's got a question or a spot, 'Hey, am I lining up here, there? What do I have?' I have to be able to be on top of it and communicate it correctly, so quite a bit of time."
That said, the most important work of Stafford's offseason is mostly behind him. His wife is recovering after a major health scare and their family seems to be in good spirits.
"Situations like this change your perspective on a lot of things and kind of puts stuff where it should be," Stafford said. "But it's been good. I'm just happy to be out here throwing the ball around to some really talented guys, having some fun playing some ball."
