Quarterback 
“Matt Stafford’s not going to be ready this week,” Head Coach Jim Schwartz announced after Wednesday’s practice. “So he’s the only guy who’s out of consideration for the starting quarterback spot this week.”
“We’ll have a good idea as the week goes on what the health of our guys are and who we’re going to go with on Sunday, but we probably won’t announce it until we get up to game time simply for competitive reasons.”
Stanton has started the last three games for Detroit, notching back-to-back wins against Green Bay and at Tampa Bay.
Though he struggled for the first three quarters against the Packers, he put together the game-winning scoring drive and then played superbly to win against the Bucs.
“This game doesn’t always go the way you want it to, but that’s why it’s a team game,” said Stanton, who was limited in practice on Wednesday. “Our defense did a great job against the Packers of keeping us in it and we scored when we needed to.
“This week it was a little bit different where we were doing good on offense. The defense had to figure some stuff out, but stepped up when they had to and made a huge goal-line stand to hold them to a field goal. Both end results were what we’re looking for, but each was a different way of getting there.”
Stanton finished that game despite suffering an injury to his non-throwing shoulder just before the half.
“If I start a game I’m going to try and do everything I can to possibly finish it,” said Stanton of his decision to come back.
He finished the game 23-of-37 for 252 yards with one touchdown and led Detroit on the game-tying and game-winning field goal drives.
Schwartz declined to talk about the way Stanton looked in practice on Wednesday, but did acknowledge his gutsy performance against the Buccaneers.
“He showed a lot of toughness playing through (the injury) on Sunday,” he said. “Being able to finish the game was big and being able to answer the bell this week would be big for him also.”
In all likelihood, the starter will be Stanton or Shaun Hill, who has been trying to come back from a broken finger on his throwing hand.
One of the primary factors to determine which player starts will be health, but game plan will also be a consideration. Hill is primarily a pocket passer, while Stanton can also be used in the running game.
That being said, Stanton’s ability to run may be impacted as he tries to protect his injured shoulder.
“We’re going to see what happens, but I’m going to do everything I can to be healthy and be ready to go, whatever my role is,” said Stanton.
“As it has been all year, I’m going to try and do it to the best of my ability whether I’m the third, the second or the first quarterback in and just try and get ready to help this team win a football game.”
Stanton feels his play over the last two weeks has reaffirmed some of the things he has been working hard at, also showing that he can run the Lions’ offense and have success doing so.
“Ultimately, you get counted for wins and losses at my position and it’s a good feeling to be able to put two wins on the board for this team and this franchise,” he said.
“So there’s positives to build from it and I think every time I get out there I feel more comfortable with what’s going on, seeing and trusting things and just being on the same page with everybody.”
