Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford hasn’t been able to look like the MVP-worthy candidate that he was playing like last season before his back injury forced him out for the final nine games of the schedule.
The Lions are limping into their next matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars with a 1-3 record, and Stafford’s numbers aren’t anything to write home about. Through the first four games, Stafford is currently ranked 29th among qualifying passers in competition percentage, 18th in yards per game and 18th in his interception rate.
And when offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell met with media members this afternoon, he alluded to what he believes are the problems affecting Stafford’s game right now.
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“I think there are a lot of things that go into that, but I think when you simplify it as easy as you can for the quarterback — I had a small conversation with him about it — I think it usually goes back to your feet,” Bevell said. “Your feet really tell you the story. Your feet is what you gets you through your progressions, gets you through the play.
“I think that we were really in a good place last year, then, keep in mind, he had all that time off, not running plays with guys in our offense,” Bevell said. “Just continuing to work on those little details, making sure that our feet are helping us get through progressions, helping us make the decisions and that we bring our feet with us through all our throws.”
However, both Bevell and positional coach Sean Ryan don’t believe that Stafford’s back injury is hampering him this year.
“I haven’t seen anything from concern on his end about injuries,” Ryan said. “He, to me, has felt well. Hasn’t given me indication of anything else. I think footwork is always a thing for quarterbacks. You’re always working on it. If you think you’re ever done with that, you’re probably headed for a problem.”
– – Quotes via Justin Rogers of The Detroit News Link – –
