Lions’ Stafford sore, could miss Sunday’s game

Jim Caldwell said he’s not certain whether Matthew Stafford will be available for this weekend’s game against the Denver Broncos (8:30 p.m. Sunday, NBC) after the Detroit Lions quarterback emerged from Sunday’s 26-16 loss to the Minnesota Vikings battered, bloodied and bruised.

“We’ll see,” Caldwell said at his weekly news conference Monday. “Like I said, he’s very, very sore, there’s no question about that. He got hit far too many times.”

The Vikings sacked Stafford just one time Sunday, but he took eight hits, including several punishing blows.

Rookie Eric Kendicks left Stafford gasping for air with a big hit on the third play of the game, Brian Robinson crushed him from behind on a scramble early in the third quarter, and Stafford, who finished the game with bandages on his bloody left elbow, underwent X rays on his chest and ribs after the game.

Caldwell declined to say Monday what the X-rays revealed “You’ll check the injury report when it comes out (Wednesday) and you’ll see where we are,” he said and he offered only that Stafford was “sore” when asked for an update on his quarterback’s health.

“It was a tough day for him yesterday, but we’ll see where he is as the week goes on,” Caldwell said.

The Lions have just one other quarterback on their 53-man roster: backup Dan Orlovsky. Recently signed Ricky Stanzi is on the practice squad.

Orlovsky has not attempted a pass since the 2012 season, while Stanzi has never appeared in an NFL game.

Caldwell said it’s possible that the team will add another quarterback, be it Stanzi or someone else, to its active roster this week.

“Anything’s possible,” he said. “I’m not going to limit anything. You ask me what the likelihood is, anything’s possible.”

As for the punishment Stafford was subjected to Sunday, Caldwell said there’s plenty of blame to go around.

The offensive line struggled to block Robison and Sharrif Floyd most of the day, the Lions never mounted much of a rushing attack (16 carries, 38 yards), and Stafford played a role in the protection problems, too.

“There were many (breakdowns), and far too many,” Caldwell said. “And a lot of them had to do with just kind of coming off late. Most guys got on their guys. A couple of them were a guy was free coming through. There was a few of those.”

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