Matthew Stafford's already played once this season after missing the prior week of practice. He just might do it again on Sunday.
While the Lions likely won't make a decision on Stafford until Sunday morning, interim head coach Darrell Bevell confirmed Friday that Stafford will make the trip to Tennessee and added he wouldn't be surprised if the quarterback gritted his teeth through the rib cartilage injury he suffered last week.
"He’s moving better, he’s feeling better. You really can’t judge this because the guy is just tough as nails and he may come in on Sunday – I’ve had it before. (Brett) Favre was out like 10 straight weeks, he was going to be out again, and he walks in the day of the game and says, ‘I’m going.’ Guys like that, you give it to them and they go.
"I feel like (Stafford) is in that same category. He could walk in Sunday and say, ‘I don’t care what anyone's saying, I’m going.’ So, I’m going to let him go.”
Bevell was Favre's quarterback coach from 2000-05 with the Packers, then coached him again from 2009-10 as the offensive coordinator of the Vikings. He said Favre and Stafford are cut from the same cloth, especially when it comes to playing through pain. Stafford famously played through a broken back in 2018, among various other injuries over the course of his career.
“They love this game, both those guys," Bevell said. "They love being out there with their teammates, and they miss it when they’re not able to. It’s one of those things where you literally feel like you’re letting people down if you don’t go out there."
Stafford suited up in Week 9 against the Vikings after spending that week in quarantine due to the NFL's COVID-19 protocol. He went 23-32 for 211 yards, one touchdown and two picks. He was limited at practice Friday after sitting out the two days prior, but Bevell has already said he's comfortable with Stafford playing without practicing.
"Just to be clear, we’re not going to let the guy go out there if he’s in a state where he can’t protect himself and is going to be a detriment to him," said Bevell. "But a lot of these things are, ‘How can you manage the pain? And can you play and function with it?’
"I’ve seen it from Favre’s broken thumb to his MCL, all those kinds of things, and here goes Matthew. You guys have seen it. You guys have covered this team way longer than I have been here, and you know what he’s done and what he’s played through. So I’m not putting him past it.”