At long last, the Lions have placed Matthew Stafford on injured reserve.
Now his season is officially over.
"I have the utmost respect for Matthew and his efforts to try to do everything he could to get back and play," Patricia said. "Certainly, we had a schedule that we were trying to follow from the advice of our doctors and the medical people that look at everything. Just at this point, it looks like it’d really be in the best interest for him, and us obviously, as an organization to give him that opportunity to rest and to heal."
Stafford thrived in his first season under offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell. He ranked among the top five quarterbacks in the NFL in most major statistics at the time of his injury, including passer rating and yards per game.
"I think he was really in a good spot. We were doing a nice job together," Bevell said Tuesday. "I can’t emphasize how much I appreciate the work that he did, just in terms of learning the new stuff, picking it up, teaching it to teammates and then unfortunately he went down.
"But he really hasn’t missed a beat. He’s been in every meeting, he’s still working behind the scenes, he’s working with the young quarterbacks trying to be that veteran presence to really help those guys out. It’s been a hard year for him, but a special year for us together, beginning this gang and starting to grow."