Matthew Stafford’s finger is ‘fine’, no surgery required

With the Detroit Lions back in Allen Park this week for team workouts, we get the opportunity to check in with players and their respective health statuses. The Lions limped their way through December and into January’s Wild Card matchup with the Seahawks, leaving a trail of injured players in their wake. In fact, on Tuesday, Golden Tate believed much of the Lions’ collapse could be attributed to poor injury luck:

Chief among those injury concerns was Matthew Stafford, whose dislocated finger may have had the biggest impact on the team’s play in the final four weeks of the season. Though Stafford continued to play through the injury with the aid of a splinted glove, his play seemed to decline.

However, it appears Stafford is fine and well today. Stafford confirmed in a press conference with the media on Tuesday that his finger did not require any surgery, but just needed rest. “No surgery, no procedure or anything like that,” Stafford said. “Feels good.”

Though Stafford is still adjusting to life as a parent—his twins daughters were born just three weeks ago—he has already been working on preparing for the 2017 season. “Been throwing for—I don’t know—probably a month, month and a half now,” Stafford said.

But before he takes the field for the 2017, there is the lingering matter of Stafford’s potential contract extension. In regard to that, Stafford made it clear he’d love to be in Detroit long term:

Now that he’s got a clean bill of health and is starting to get into football mode, it appears the negotiations may get underway soon.