| Detroit Free Press
Breaking down where Detroit Lions go after deflating loss to Colts
Free Press sports writers Dave Birkett, Shawn Windsor assess the damage after the Detroit Lions’ loss to the Indianapolis Colts. Filmed Nov. 2, 2020.
Matthew Stafford is back on the reserve/COVID-19 list for a virus he did not catch.
The Detroit Lions on Wednesday placed Stafford on the listing for the second time in three months, but there is hope the quarterback still can play in Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
Stafford did not test positive for the novel coronavirus, his wife, Kelly, said in an Instagram video, but was in close contact with someone who did. ESPN first reported news of the close contact.
Per NFL rules, Stafford must isolate for five days from the date of last contact, which ESPN reported was Monday. If he continues to test negative daily, he will be eligible to rejoin the team Sunday.
“All I know is he’ll be there when it’s game time,” wide receiver Marvin Hall said Wednesday when asked about Stafford’s whereabouts at practice. “My thing is Staff should be fine. Stafford, he should be there.”
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Stafford spent three days with the reserve/COVID designation after he tested positive for the virus on July 31. The Lions said the test was a false positive, reinstated him to the active roster Aug. 4, and the NFL changed its testing protocols because of the incident.
Stafford, who did not make his usual media appearance Wednesday, said in August that it was “scary” to initially receive the positive diagnosis.
“I had no reason to not believe the results, or whatever, except for the fact that I was feeling fine,” he said. “But there’s plenty of people out there that are positive and asymptomatic as well. So I think, yeah, there was no doubt there was some fear as I think everybody would have if they got a test that came back positive. And just knowing how much that I’m around and had been around my family and my kids, that’s a little bit of a scary thing. And then when everybody got tested and it all panned itself out, obviously you feel a whole lot better about it.”
Kelly Stafford lashed out in an Instagram post at the NFL after Stafford’s false positive, saying her family lived four days “of a nightmare” based on how they were treated after word spread of his test result.
“I blame the NFL for not holding themselves accountable. These are people’s lives and livelihoods that are in those results in THEIR test sites,” she wrote. “Maybe we should be absolutely positive a person has COVID before releasing that info to the world.”
On Wednesday, she posted a simple four-word message in another Instagram story – “Here we go again” – and sarcastically thanked the NFL for “throwing my family out there when no one is positive.”
“I appreciate everyone reaching out and giving us well wishes, when actually we are fine,” Kelly Stafford said. “We are all negative, my husband is negative. There was just a certain exposure, so we’ve been testing since our exposure and we are all negative.”
Stafford is the second player the Lions have placed on the reserve/COVID-19 report in the two days. On Tuesday, the Lions placed linebacker Jarrad Davis on the list, their first player since Stafford’s false positive.
The Stafford and Davis cases are not related, Lions coach Matt Patricia said.
“I’m not going to comment on any of the COVID stuff as far as that, but nobody would not be out at practice because of J.D.,” he said.
The Lions have done a better job avoiding the virus than most teams this season, but their current outbreak comes at an inopportune time.
The Lions travel to Minnesota this week to play the Vikings in their first of four games against sub-.500 teams. At 3-4, and with a difficult December schedule awaiting, they likely need to win all four games to stay in playoff contention.
Stafford, 32, played all 61 offensive snaps in last week’s loss to the Indianapolis Colts, when he was sacked a season-high five times and committed a pair of costly second-half turnovers.
He missed eight games with a back injury last season, but has taken every offensive snap in the Lions’ seven games this year and did not miss a practice until Wednesday.
More: Detroit Lions going ahead with business as usual after Jarrad Davis’ COVID case; here’s why
If Stafford cannot play Sunday, the Lions likely will turn to quarterback Chase Daniel, the veteran they signed as a free agent this offseason for insurance at the position.
Daniel, 34, went 1-2 as a starter with the Chicago Bears the past two seasons, and made two starts for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2013-14. He is 2-3 as a starter.
David Blough, who the Lions elevated from their practice squad last month, is the only other quarterback on the roster.
Along with Stafford and Davis, the Lions have placed seven other players on reserve/COVID-19 this season: Kenny Golladay, T.J. Hockenson, Amani Oruwariye, Justin Coleman, Isaac Nauta, Jalen Elliott and Arryn Siposs.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.