Last Updated: November 09. 2010 5:27PM
[img_l]http://www.detnews.com/graphics/columnistmugs/BobWojnowski.jpg[/img_l]Bob Wojnowski
Lions feel Matthew Stafford's pain, too
 
Allen Park -- Jim Schwartz put on his best hopeful face, but nobody's kidding anybody right now. The Lions have to be extremely nervous, unsure if they have a bright young quarterback, or just the fuzzy X-rays of a bright young quarterback.

It's not just because Matthew Stafford is out again, his right shoulder ailing again, the prognosis uncertain again. It's because there's not much the Lions can do about it, except hope for a (healthy) wing and a prayer.

Schwartz said Monday there's no surgical option for Stafford, at least not at this point. There's no weight-training regimen that necessarily can fix a shoulder joint. There's no way you can tell a quarterback to never run with the ball, and besides, it's not like Stafford has been injured on reckless plays.

The latest came when he simply tried to scramble for a first down in the fourth quarter and was tripped up by Jets linebacker Bryan Thomas.

Stafford, who was dinged on the shoulder earlier in the game, landed awkwardly and immediately felt the pain.

Schwartz stressed this was a new shoulder injury, unrelated to the previous two, but I'm not even sure that's good news. I suppose it protects the Lions from any suggestion they rushed Stafford back after his shoulder separation in the opener, and he did sit out five games.

Is Stafford injury-prone? By definition, yes he is, so far. Sorry. That's not a knock on his toughness. It's factual, partly the fluky fate of football, and it certainly makes it more difficult for the Lions to count on their promising franchise quarterback.

If Schwartz was shaken by it all including the possibility of third-stringer Drew Stanton starting in Buffalo, with backup Shaun Hill still healing he hid it well. He steadfastly declined to question Stafford's durability, and fervently touted his young quarterback's future.

"He hasn't been able to play as much as he'd like, but he hasn't been hampered by hangnails or headaches," Schwartz said. "He's been hit by 290-pound guys going full speed. I don't know if there's anything I would tell him different. He's trying to do what's best for the team, and he's sacrificed his body for a chance to win games. I think that's admirable.

"I think Matt Stafford's an outstanding quarterback and he's gonna be a good quarterback for a long time for us. The injuries have all been sort of separate, not one that really aggravated another. I think we'd be more concerned if it was a single injury getting worse."

There's no Plan B

That's the only approach the Lions can take right now, frankly. Stafford has played through pain and rallied his team.

And while his frame (6-foot-3, 232 pounds) isn't particularly big, he's not skinny. He left the team facility Monday with his right shoulder tightly bound, and later on his weekly WJR radio appearance, expressed understandable frustration, while admitting he'd be sidelined for a while.
"I'll talk some more with the doctors and try to figure out what they're thinking," Stafford said. "I don't think anybody's injury-prone. I think it happens to some people and doesn't happen to others, for whatever reasons. I've had injuries the last couple of years, but I never missed a game in college or high school for injury. It's not something I expect to be an issue long term."

Stafford said he didn't think he returned too quickly, but he wasn't sure. That's a fair question, and you can bet it'll factor into the Lions' decision with him the rest of this season. It's too early to suggest how long he should be out, but at 2-6 with eight games left, how much more risk can they take?

People wonder how the Lions can tie the future to a quarterback who's been injured four times and missed 11 of 24 games in a season-and-a-half. It's OK to wonder, but it's also too late the Lions already invested a $78 million contract in the 2009 No. 1 overall pick, and there's no turning back, no Plan B. As owner William Clay Ford said after the 23-20 overtime loss to the Jets, "We just keep our fingers crossed."

Cold shoulder

Some will curse and some will talk of a Lions curse. The truly sad thing is, Stafford has shown how good he can be six touchdown passes and one interception this season and he certainly looked better than Jets second-year quarterback Mark Sanchez.

But Sanchez stayed on the field and helped win the game, and when Stafford left, it was a brutal blow. The way the Lions fell apart doesn't bode well. Stafford underwent an MRI and Schwartz doesn't know when he could return, or even if Hill will be recovered from a broken arm to play. Stanton could be the guy, but really, one game is not the Lions' focus right now.
One shoulder is. When Stafford was injured in the opener against Chicago, it happened on a thundering sack by Julius Peppers. His injuries last season to the right knee and left shoulder occurred on pass plays, and the knee required minor surgery in the offseason.

Part of that is the nature of the position, and part is the Lions being a poor team. But no quarterback goes un-hit, so the issue isn't readily solvable.

"If you say, hey, you're not allowed to run, well, are you not allowed to drop back to pass?" Schwartz said. "There have been plenty of quarterbacks that have had times with injuries. Tom Brady missed a whole season, is that an issue? Matt was trying to make a play, and there's no way you can discourage that."

There's no doubt Stafford can make plays, when he plays. The Lions and others have seen enough to know what he can do, how important he is. But can his body shoulder the load? The question has never been more worrisome.

bob.wojnowski@detnews.com


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