Matthew Stafford has received criticism from all corners this season. CBS analysts Boomer Esiason and Rich Gannon are among those ripping the Lions quarterback, prompting Stafford to say last week that he doesn’t “need to answer to Rich Gannon.”
But Lions coach Matt Patricia pulled a Terrell Owens, minus the tears.
Owens famously defended his then quarterback, Tony Romo, after a playoff loss, saying, “That’s my quarterback.” That’s essentially what Patricia said Wednesday in defense of his quarterback.
“The good thing for us is we just kind of focus on inside of the building, what we’re doing here,” Patricia said, via video from Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press. “Matt Stafford, we’re blessed to have him as our quarterback. We’re lucky to have him as our quarterback. This is a guy who is extremely tough. He’s extremely competitive. He’s a guy that works harder than anybody in the building every single day to get better. I think for him as a quarterback his due diligence, the work that he does every single week. . . . Look, that’s not an easy position to play in the NFL. When you have the defenses that we’ve seen here the last couple of weeks coming at you from different directions, playing in stadiums that are not easy to play in, under conditions that are not easy to play in I would say. It’s part of the game. But his toughness that he portrays through all those situations, and his ability to come back and go right back at it with that tenacious attitude every single day. He’s a great quarterback. He works extremely hard and he’s our leader on offense and we’re going to keep pushing and he’s going to keep leading, which is great for us.”
Stafford has completed 66.8 percent of his passes for 2,385 yards with 16 touchdowns, eight interceptions and a 93.8 passer rating.