The quick turnaround going from Sunday’s action to Thanksgiving games on Thursday has already begun, and I doubt there’s a team that wishes it had a few extra days for rest, recuperation, and recovery more than the Detroit Lions.
Just check out this Monday estimated practice report:
Lions estimated practice report pic.twitter.com/LRmqW4WuMi
— Dave Birkett (@davebirkett) November 25, 2019
This report of injuries is eye-opening, as it features waves of key players at several spots throughout the roster. But when it comes to the quarterback position, that is where the Lions are feeling it the most.
Starting quarterback Matthew Stafford did not participate because of a back injury. Stafford has been out since Week 10 when he was a Sunday morning scratch before the first Bears-Lions game at Soldier Field. To further complicate matters, Stafford’s backup was a limited participant in practice. A hamstring injury placed QB2 Jeff Driskel among the limited participants on Monday’s report. Driskel has thrown as many interceptions (4) as touchdowns (also 4) in three games as a starter in place of Stafford. He also owns a 59.1 percent completion rate and 75.3 passer rating in those games.
Things are so rough for the Lions’ quarterbacks room right now, they tried to sign Josh Johnson — but were blocked by the XFL from doing so. Tough break.
If neither Stafford nor Driskel can play, then David Blough would be in line to get the call.
The Lions acquired Blough (and a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2022 draft) from the Browns back in August in exchange for a conditional seventh-round pick in the 2020 draft. Talk about future considerations!
Blough threw for 3,705 yards and 25 touchdowns as a senior for Purdue last year. So, at minimum, he has experience dropping back and throwing the ball around the field. That should help him if push comes to shove and he has to start against a Bears defense that just delivered eight QB Hits on Daniel Jones on Sunday.