On Sunday, the Detroit Lions will be in Minnesota to take on the Vikings in what is an ultra-important game if the Lions want to get back into the playoff mix.
But when the Lions team travels to Minnesota, starting quarterback Matthew Stafford will not be on the same plane.
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Instead, Stafford will reportedly take a private flight to Minneapolis as he is currently on the reserve/COVID-19 list. He is currently in the midst of the mandatory five-day isolation period, which, assuming he does not test positive for COVID-19, will end in time for him to join his teammates on the field against the Vikings.
Even though Stafford has not been able to practice at all this week, Lions head coach Matt Patricia has supreme confidence in his veteran signal-caller.
“I think if you called Matt Stafford on an April day and said, ‘Hey, we’re going to go play a 60-minute football game,’ he’d be able to go out there and rip it,” Patricia said. “He’d be fine. He’d see defenses; he’d see coverage. He’d be doing all the right things. He’s a great vet. He knows how to play the game.
“I do always think in the game of football that there’s a little continuity that needs to go on, and especially when you have different guys out on the field and maybe different players in different positions week in, week out and all that. So I do think that’s why practice is important from that standpoint, but I trust Matt Stafford to always do the right things, be ready to go and that’s where we are right now.”
You can bet Stafford is putting in extra time looking at film and preparing mentally to face the Vikings on Sunday. If he were to end up testing positive, backup Chase Daniel would get the nod.
