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Glove Or No Glove, Stafford Plans To Take Every Snap On Sunday

By: Will Burchfield
@burchie_kid

There are a number of unknowns surrounding Matthew Stafford's injured finger, but here's one thing the quarterback knows for sure ahead of the Lions' Week 15 matchup with the Giants:

"I plan to take every rep in practice and in the game. That's how I'm going about it," Stafford said on Wednesday.

Stafford suffered a joint dislocation and torn ligaments in his right middle finger in the second quarter of the Lions' 20-17 win over the Bears on Sunday. He finished the game with a glove on that hand, and it was reported afterward that he would wear the glove for the remainder of the season.

As it turns out, Stafford hasn't made up his mind in that regard.

"Still kind of working on it. Threw a little bit in the walk-through, still working on it, figuring out what's going to be best come Sunday," he said.

At practice on Wednesday, Stafford wore a specially-designed glove that covered just his right middle finger. If he opts not to wear it on Sunday (or some variation of it), he said he'll play with nothing on his hand - there aren't any other options. And he'll practice accordingly.

"I'm going to try to prepare throughout the week like it's a game, whether that's glove or not. I'm still working on it, but whatever I end up doing in the game will not just be a guess. It will be something I've worked on," said Stafford.

"Whatever is most functional, I can perform the best with, that's what I'll go with," he added.

Despite leading the Lions on yet another fourth-quarter, game-winning drive on Sunday, Stafford struggled while wearing the glove. He threw two interceptions - after throwing just one in the previous eight games - and finished with his second lowest passer rating (64.3) of the season.

Afterward, he said he had issues with both his grip and his velocity. He guessed on Wednesday that the injury was more to blame for that than the glove.

But with a few more days for his finger to heal, Stafford said his velocity may not be affected on Sunday.

"We'll kind of see throughout the week, it's something that just kind of comes naturally. You know what you've got in the tank, and you just kind of go play from there," he said.

Come Sunday, Stafford expects it to be business-as-usual for the Lions' offense, refuting any idea that the playbook could be diminished by his injury.

"Even last Sunday, Jim Bob (Cooter) was like, 'You know, what kind of limitation is it? I said, 'Just go call the game. Don't worry about me, I'll figure it out.' Plan on being the same way this week," Stafford said.

Jim Caldwell said the benefit of having a full week between games is "huge" in regard to Stafford's recovery and preparation.

"The difficult part was on game day when it happened. Obviously, that's one where you haven't had a chance to prep and get a feel and all those kinds of things, so it's going to be some valuable time for us this week," he said.

Either way, Caldwell knows his quarterback will be ready to strap on the pads this weekend.

"It's not a matter of toughness with him, it never has been," Caldwell said. "He's a very, very tough-minded, tough-physically individual that battles through a lot of stuff...He's never shown any reservations in that area, so he'll work at it just like he does every other week and we'll see where he is."

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