Notes: Teammates commend Matthew Stafford’s toughness following injury: ‘He’s iron man’

It’s no secret Matthew Stafford’s is one tough SOB.

From thumb issues to hip problems to separating his shoulder then throwing a game-winning touchdown, the 32-year-old veteran has played through his share of injuries. Since 2011, he tallied 136 consecutive starts until finally breaking his streak last November when he was sidelined against the Chicago Bears with broken bones in his back.

While I wake up with a sore back every other morning from ... *checks notes* ... oh yes, simply existing, it took actually breaking his back to keep Stafford off the field. The season before that he played through fractures in his back. I mean, c’mon.

That’s why when Stafford left the game with a rib injury this past Sunday against the Green Bay Packers, Lions fans knew it had to be pretty bad. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Stafford is reportedly in an “unbelievable amount of pain.”

On a Zoom call with reporters Monday, Darrell Bevell said Stafford’s x-rays came back negative for broken ribs and that he’s doing better. With a reputation for playing through the pain, his teammates couldn’t help but praise his toughness.

“We know ‘9’ is a warrior, man,” Taylor Decker said. “He’ll battle through a lot — he’ll push through a lot of pain, so you know if he can’t go then it’s really because he can’t.”

“Everybody in the world knows how tough ‘9’ is and I feel like I don’t know anybody that’s tougher than him,” Marvin Jones Jr. said. “Definitely knew he wanted to finish the game ... he’s iron man.”

Bevell echoed the players’ feelings on Monday afternoon.

“He’s a true warrior. I mean, that guy loves to play football and it’s going to take a lot to keep him out,” he said.

And onto the rest of your notes.

• As the Lions community awaits test results, Dave Birkett for the Detroit Free Press writes if Matthew Stafford’s career in Detroit is over after this injury, it came to a fitting end.

• Along the same lines, Jeff Seidel for the Freep explains what might be best for both the Lions and Stafford, might not be the easiest decision.

• Adrian Peterson out here doing good.

• While the headline of this week’s Monday Morning Quarterback is how good the Packers are, there are a few tidbits about the Lions — particularly how the Jets’ potential 0-16 season is historic. As 0-16 survivors, there’s a Lions comparison involved and some interesting stuff there.

• Josh Schrock from NBC Sports suggests Stafford’s performance Sunday should have caught the attention of the San Francisco 49ers, who currently have a big question mark at quarterback.

• From more rushing touchdowns to a spark from Jamal Agnew, Detroitlions.com’s Tim Twentyman and Mike O’Hara offer this week’s observations from the Packers game.

• In case you missed it, Barry Sanders is giving away some autographed swag over there on the Twitter machine.

He’s partnering with Schwartz Sports Memorabilia and some of the stuff looks pretty neat.