Yahoo Finance Matthew Stafford won't start against Bears, ending his streak of consecutive starts
Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford was hoping to play through the pain of back and shoulder injuries in Detroit’s Week 10 game against the Chicago Bears, but the game time decision has been made. According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Stafford has fractured bones in his back and will not play.
Lions’ QB Matthew Stafford has fractured bones in his back and doctors will not let him play today vs. Bears, per source. Jeff Driskell starts for Detroit.
— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) November 10, 2019
Lions GM Bob Quinn spoke to the media and while he gave a time frame for when the back injury occurred, he didn’t reveal when the Lions knew that Stafford had fractured bones in his back.
Bob Quinn on Stafford: “Had the back injury last week near the end of the Oakland game. Practiced on limited all week. Listed him as questionable. Got to the stadium this morning, met with the doctors, and he wasn’t medically cleared to play today. So, he’s deactivated."
— Tim Twentyman (@ttwentyman) November 10, 2019
Stafford has played through the pain of back injuries before — he did it during the 2018 season — but the presence of actual broken bones appears to have put the kibosh on that. Backup Jeff Driskel will start in his place.
This also means that Stafford’s streak of 136 straight starts will end on Sunday. It was the fourth-longest active streak, behind fellow QB Philip Rivers (217), cornerback Brandon Carr (184), and linebacker Ryan Kerrigan (137). Stafford, Rivers, and Russell Wilson are the only three current quarterbacks to have started over 100 straight games (Matt Ryan’s streak of 154 ended in Week 9).
Stafford hasn’t missed a game since 2010, but this week he’ll have to watch backup Jeff Driskel start in his place. Driskel, 26, was drafted in the sixth round by the San Francisco 49ers in 2016, and started five games for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2018.
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