Matthew Stafford will practice this week and play through the finger injury he suffered in Sunday's win over the Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions coach Jim Caldwell said at his weekly news conference on Monday.
"The good thing about it, he's able to finish the game, get through it, and also that he's going to be able to play in the next game, go through practice and those kinds of things," Caldwell said. "He feels that, obviously, he can get it done and, also, the doctors do, as well. Not going to talk to you about the nature of it, what happened, all the rumors and false reports and those kinds of things. But nevertheless, he'll be able to get through it."
Stafford hurt the tip of the middle finger on his throwing hand when he "clapped hands" with Bears linebacker Leonard Floyd on the final play of the first quarter Sunday.
Stafford received medical attention from trainers in the break between quarters and played the rest of the game with a glove on his throwing hand to help him grip the football.
ESPN reported that Stafford suffered torn ligaments and a dislocated joint in the middle finger and later reported that Stafford dislocated his thumb. Other outlets speculated that Stafford might have a tendon injury.
Caldwell declined to say which reports were false.
Though Stafford's thumb is fine, he did leave Ford Field with his middle finger in a splint. Caldwell acknowledged that the injury "did affect him some yesterday, when it first happened."
"I think you saw that through the course of the game, but he's a tough guy, he battled through it and so now we have an opportunity to work with the doctors and get things straightened out that need to be straightened out," Caldwell said. "We'll work through it this week, and he should be ready to go."
The Lions play the New York Giants on Sunday (1 p.m., Fox) in a game that will have a big impact on the NFC playoff race.
The Lions (9-4) are in first place atop the NFC North with the red-hot Green Bay Packers (7-5). They can clinch their first division title in 23 years with a win over the Giants and a Packers loss.
The Giants also are 9-4.
Caldwell declined to say how much Stafford's injury will cause the Lions to alter their playbook _ Stafford attempted just 12 passes in Sunday's second half and had noticeably different velocity on the ball coming out of his hand _ and he indicated that the Lions haven't given any thought to resting their quarterback for the stretch run.
"You saw him play yesterday," Caldwell said. "Made some things happen, and you can anticipate he'll be a little better by the time we get to next week. Anytime you've got an issue with an arm or hand, playing that position, or even your feet, because you push from there _ people underscore the legs, in terms of that _ it's something to be dealt with."
