Detroit Lions are without Matt Stafford for the first time in nine years. Stafford is out against the Chicago Bears on Sunday with fractured bones in his back. He tried to play through the injury but team doctors refused to medically clear him, according to Adam Schefter.
Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford has fractured bones in his back and doctors will not let him play today vs. Bears, per source. Jeff Driskell starts for Detroit.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 10, 2019
Stafford first injured his back in the previous week’s game, a loss to the Oakland Raiders.
Although he practiced on Friday and was throwing 60-yard passes according to Schefter, doctors still did not feel comfortable with him playing this week and wanted him to undergo further testing on his back.
The Lions turn to Jeff Driskel to start against the Bears. It will be the first time since Week 17 of the 2010 season that a quarterback other than Matt Stafford has started a game for Detroit, snapping a 136-game regular season streak, the sixth-longest for a quarterback in league history.
Stafford is considered week-to-week with his back injury, with Schefter being told he could sit out “this week or three weeks.”
The Lions are currently 3-4-1 on the year and sitting in third place in the NFC North, half a game ahead of the Bears.
