Notes: Matthew Stafford ‘has the pieces in place’ to be an MVP candidate

• Bleacher Report’s Mike Freeman was in Detroit this week and after speaking to several teammates and seeing the team himself, he believes Matthew Stafford could be a “stealth MVP candidate” this year.

Freeman also spoke on how negotiations with Stafford are currently going, noting that “he’s going to get a new contract; it’s just a question of when.” However, according to Freeman, the deal may take longer than a few weeks. “Speaking to someone close to Stafford, I get the sense his side isn’t overly optimistic something can get done before the start of the season.”

• Football Outsiders argues that several Detroit Lions players are being underrated in fantasy football because of the low amount of offensive drives from last year.

• You haven’t truly watched Lions vs. Jets until you’ve watched Sandman’s “Slowlights” of the game:

• Eric Edholm of FanRag Sports built the dream defensive coaching staff out of current NFL coaches. His team included Lions defensive line coach Kris Kocurek.

• A lot of Lions fans continue to be worried about Ezekiel Ansah and his mysterious injury. So here’s a long-distance, blurry video of him running during Tuesday’s practice:

• Here are some quick hits from Tuesday night’s mostly uneventful Fan Forum at Ford Field with Roger Goodell.

Rod Wood is not all that interested in “Hard Knocks” coming to Detroit:

Goodell had some very nice things to say about Lions owner Martha Firestone Ford:

Rod Wood’s got some jokes:

• Offensive coordinator Jim Bob Cooter said improving the running game has been “a big, big, big point of emphasis” this offseason.