Lions' Matthew Stafford Talks Back Injury; Aiming to Return as Soon as Possible

Matthew Stafford had played 136 straight regular-season games before Sunday's matchup with the Chicago Bears, so there's no question the veteran Detroit Lions quarterback is seriously ailing. 

Stafford was forced to sit out the Lions' 20-13 loss to the Bears due to a back injury. ESPN's Adam Schefter reported Sunday morning that Stafford had fractured bones in his back. 

"Ultimately, I think I made the right decision," Stafford told reporters Monday. 

Lions general manager Bob Quinn disclosed to team reporter Tim Twentyman that Stafford suffered a back injury in Week 9 "near the end of the Oakland game." 

"Practiced on limited all week," Quinn continued. "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."

Prior to Sunday, Stafford last missed a start during the 2010-11 season—his second year in the NFL—when he suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in Nov. 2010.

The 31-year-old Pro Bowler doesn't intend for his back injury to end this season prematurely for him, though. 

"That's not my thinking at the moment," he said. "My thinking is to try and be out there as soon as I possibly can to help us win."

Stafford's wife, Kelly, posted to Instagram prior to Detroit's game noting that she felt "grateful" for the Lions' team doctors and "happy" that his back will be given a chance to heal:

Stafford had been listed as questionable ahead of the Lions' Week 4 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs because of a hip injury and back injury, though he played. 

According to MLive.com's Kyle Meinke, the league plans to "look into" how Detroit handled Stafford and his injury designation in Week 10.

Lions head coach Matt Patricia vaguely explained the process, per Meinke:

"I'm not going to get into too many specifics, but the biggest thing was he truly was limited, he truly participated, truly limited and went through the week and we were hoping by the time we got to today we'd be able to do it. And, unfortunately, like I said, it wasn't safe to put him in that situation. So the information that we got, talking with the doctors, it wasn't the right thing to do."

Jeff Driskel started in Stafford's place and could continue on as the Lions starter as Stafford is listed as day-to-day moving forward. Through Week 9, Stafford had thrown for 2,499 yards, 19 touchdowns and five interceptions on 64.3 percent completion.