Lions Work To Stop Dropping The Ball, Stafford Says 'It's On Me Too'
By Ashley Dunkak
@AshleyDunkak
ALLEN PARK (CBS DETROIT) - Right about now, Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford could pass the buck.
After the Lions offense cooled to lukewarm right about the same time dual threat running back Reggie Bush left the game against Arizona on Sunday, Stafford could have blamed the drops, could have implicated the guys who are supposed to catch the ball.
Instead, he took at least partial responsibility for the Lions' eight drops, which are tied with New England for the most in the NFL.
"It's on everybody," Stafford said. "It's on me too. I've got to give them more catchable passes. I take credit for some of those, and then guys need to make a few more plays, but at the same time, a lot of guys make great catches for me, too, so you take the good with the bad. That's something that we're constantly trying to be the best we possibly can - catch everything thrown at you and for me as a quarterback, try to put everything on the money if you can."
Running back Joique Bell, who did his best to try and revitalize the stale offense after Bush went down, has three of those drops, which is also among the most in the NFL. After studying some game tape, he offers the drops immediately as one the ways he can improve his game.
"I had two, two or three dropped catches that I have to capitalize on," Bell said. "With that situation, in a two-minute drive, I have to be able to come up with those players, and I will come up with those plays in the near future."
For some reason, though, it is not just Bell. It is the Lions as a whole.
"I don't know why that is," Bell said. "We just have to key in better."
Stafford, though, said he is not scared off by the mistakes. Really, it has to be the opposite.
"I want to go right back to them," Stafford said. "I want to give them the ball the next play just to get them back in the swing of things. There's nothing more frustrating as an athlete to mess up and then not have the opportunity to make up for it.
"That's something that I know as a competitor when I throw a pick, I want to throw the next play, so I let people know that every ball I throw doesn't get picked off," Stafford added. "It's the same thing for a receiver. They drop a pass, it's going to happen, I'm going right back to them. I'm confident in all my guys."
"Obviously you lose one game, you want to bounce back and win one," Stafford said. "This week's no different than any other."
