ALLEN PARK (WXYZ) — Matthew Stafford watched the Lions struggle to move the football from the sideline once again.
Stafford did not play in Saturday's loss to the Houston Texans, but did practice all week long as apart of joint practices.
After many starters took at least a few live game reps, it's been understandable that some people might not be totally understanding that the 11th year franchise quarterback still hasn't played a live snap.
However Stafford says he doesn't control when he plays.
"When they tell me to go play, I go play, I've played a lot of football, I love playing, whenever I get a chance to go play, I go play," Stafford said.
Now the Lions are entering the third week of the preseason, which is typically supposed to resemble a regular season NFL week. The live practice reps against another opponent are over, so this is the week that will be more telling on if there is a larger issue at hand with Stafford.
After the season, it was reported that Stafford struggled through a back problem. Today, he reaffirmed that he did not go through any surgery, but last week he also admitted he's not 21 years old anymore, and that the rest he's been given has been beneficial.
"I feel like we get a lot of that work in, we run a pretty aggressive, tough ship around here so we get some good action in practice and obviously the practices with the other two teams have been good for me," Stafford added.
Philosophically, the trend has been more joint practices with starters heavily involved, whereas the preseason games become more of a tryout for the depth chart.
Stafford says he doesn't care either way, the work is getting done.
"I don't have a preference either way, to be honest, I just know the work we're getting in those practices is great, really able to push our limits schematically and see what's working and what's not," Stafford said.
