Podcast: Clearing up Matthew Stafford’s COVID situation, previewing Vikings game

Just hours before we planned on recording our Week 9 preview with special guest Arif Hasan of The Athletic Minnesota, the Detroit Lions dropped huge news that starting quarterback Matthew Stafford had been placed on the reserve/COVID-19 list. The next hour or two was filled with more questions than answers, some misleading information and downright confusion.

So for this week’s First Byte preview podcast, we get all the misinformation out of the way on the Stafford situation. Yes, he could still possibly play. No, he did not end up testing positive (yet). Yes, there is precedent to being placed on reserve/COVID on Wednesday and still playing on Sunday. No, Stafford isn’t in the clear yet.

After we get all of that out of the way, Arif helps us explain what exactly is going on with the Vikings. Are they better than their record suggests? Is Kirk Cousins still actually good? Who the hell are they going to be playing at cornerback on Sunday?

Then we get into the matchup. Can the Lions’ new-and-improved run defense stop the Vikings’ surging rushing attack? How will the defense be impacted by the loss of Trey Flowers? Revenge games for Adrian Peterson, Jayron Kearse, Everson Griffen, Chris Jones and more!

We break it all down on this week’s First Byte. You can listen to the show on any of your favorite podcast platforms (ie: Spotify or Apple Podcasts), but if you want some bonus content, be sure to watch the video on YouTube or our Twitch page.