Notes: Matthew Stafford calls seeing No. 9 jerseys ‘humbling’

The reunion between Matthew Stafford and his former team finally arrived this past weekend and No. 9 was humbled to see the love he’s still getting from Detroit fans.

Jeremy wrote up a really thorough story on what Dan Campbell had to say today, don’t worry, but I thought it would be nice to sneak over the Los Angeles Rams presser to see what Stafford had to say about the matchup.

The 33-year-old quarterback had plenty to say about the game itself—always eager to stay on the topic of the football—but he was eventually asked what it felt like seeing all the No. 9 jerseys in Honolulu blue filling his new home stadium.

“It was humbling. It was really nice to see,” Stafford said. “Driving into the stadium today, saw a few walking around and thought to myself that’s pretty cool. I’ve said it a bunch of times and I truly mean it, I loved my time there. I love all the people there that treated me, my family, my wife with a ton of respect and a ton of grace for a long time.”

Stafford said he had a chance to speak with Sheila Ford Hamp and Rod Wood before the game, along with a number of former teammates.

“I just haven’t seen those guys in a while,” he said. “(I) talk to them on text and all that kind of stuff but just good to see their faces and see those guys. Spent a lot of time with a lot of those people over there and really have some great relationships so it’s good to see those people again.”

Oh, and just for fun, here’s what he had to say about Dan Campbell’s spicy bag of tricks.

“All the fakes and all the surprise onsides and all that — just some possessions stolen there. Great plays by them, but just kind of had a weird feel to it, didn’t touch the ball too much in the first half.”

And onto your notes.

• Some folks say there is no such thing as a moral victory. The Detroit Free Press’s Shawn Windsor argues otherwise, and “only losers would argue otherwise.” ($)

• Relive the special teams glory from Sunday.

• The talent gap was evident between these two teams but I appreciated that Dan Campbell essentially acknowledged that through the aggressive playcalling.” CBS Sports’ John Breech awards his Week 7 grades and for once you’ll actually want to see where the Detroit Lions fell.

• PFF’s Brad Spielberger offers 12 potential NFC trades ahead of the deadline, including one involving Nick Williams.

• Also from PFF, a profile on Jamal Agnew and his expanding role with the Jaguars. The former Lion has already produced two 100-yard returns for touchdowns this season.

• I guess the bar is so low I just get excited when Lions highlights are featured nationally. Here are two on NFL.com — the second fake punt they’re calling a “can’t-miss play” and D’Andre Swift’s most impressive plays.