X-rays on Matthew Stafford's throwing hand were negative after he suffered an injury during Sunday's loss to the Baltimore Ravens, but it appears the Detroit Lions quarterback's status for Week 14 still remains up in the air.
"He's not out of the woods yet," said Lions head coach Jim Caldwell on Wednesday, according to Tori Petry of the team's official site. "We'll see what he can do as the week goes on. It's not like it's some insignificant injury."
Caldwell added that Stafford is "progressing in the right direction," according to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, but emphasized the veteran pivot needs to reach a certain level of functionality in his bruised hand to play.
The Week 13 blowout loss to the Ravens sent the Lions to 6-6 and likely to the brink of playoff elimination in the highly-competitive NFC. If Stafford is unable to go Sunday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the Lions' chances of a late-season turnaround will dramatically decrease.
