Matthew Stafford activated from reserve/COVID-19, should play vs. Vikings

The week of drama is over for Matthew Stafford. The Detroit Lions announced on Saturday afternoon that the Lions quarterback has been activated from the reserve/COVID-19 list, paving a path for him to play on Sunday against the Minnesota Vikings.

Earlier in the week, Stafford was placed on the list after coming into high-risk contact with a person who tested positive for COVID, as first reported by ESPN’s Adam Schefter and then later confirmed by Matthew’s wife, Kelly. He was forced to quarantine for five days following the close contact (which occurred on Monday, per Schefter). Now that he has finished that quarantine and continued to test negative, he is now back on the 53-man roster and should play Sunday.

Stafford did not practice all week, but backup quarterback Chase Daniel said he was active in game planning and even practice—from a virtual distance, of course.

“He’s in all of our Zoom meetings,” Daniel said. “Everything that we do—he did our little walkthrough today. It’s crazy what technology can do these days, and we’re having a good time with it, and he’s making the adjustments and changes on the run.”

As for the missed time in practice...

“There’s no doubt in my mind if he were to play, he doesn’t need practice.”

Game on.