Matthew Stafford: ‘I’ll be good to go’ vs. Vikings

The sleeve Matthew Stafford wore for most of the second half of Sunday’s 33-28 season-opening loss to the San Diego Chargers turned into a bulky wrap with what appeared to be ice on his right elbow Monday, but the Detroit Lions quarterback said he’ll be fine for this week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.

“I’ll be good to go,” Stafford told the Free Press.

Stafford took a helmet to his right elbow when he was hit by Melvin Ingram on the Lions’ opening series of the second half Sunday on a play in which he threw an interception.

He threw his second interception of the game on an underthrown pass two attempts later, and came out for the Lions’ next series with a sleeve on his arm.

“Once he got hit, it was his way of keeping it warm,” Lions coach Jim Caldwell explained after the game.

Caldwell declined to provide a further update on Stafford’s arm Monday, but receiver Corey Fuller told the Free Press that Stafford took part in the team’s light walk-through Monday that was closed to the media.

Stafford, who’s made 67 straight starts including the playoffs, said he would address his injury in more detail at his usual news conference Wednesday.

He finished Sunday’s game 19 of 30 passing for 246 yards, and completed 10 of 14 passes for 110 yards after taking the hit from Ingram.

“Anytime you take a hit like that that’s sort of unexpected and gets you from the (front) side like that, obviously, it’s going to disrupt you a little bit and he hit him pretty flush,” Caldwell said. “But he’s a tough guy and he was able to bounce back and come back strong enough to lead us down the field and score and put us in position if we get an onside kick to maybe go and tie the thing up. So he bounced back. Tough guy.”

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