Sorry Jim, but people don’t appreciate Stafford throwing awful interceptions. The Lions quarterback has curbed his enthusiasm for costly turnovers amid an up and down season, but Jim Caldwell still believes “Stafford is underappreciated.”
“I think there’s a lack of appreciation for him around here, I think, at times,” Caldwell said at his weekly news conference Monday. “Let me just tell you something: He’s a man’s man. He’s a tough guy. He gets hit out there every single ballgame, he hangs in there, and there may be one he’d like to have back, but then there’s a couple others, or one other that’s probably not all his fault.”
Stafford became the first quarterback in Lions history with four straight 4,000-yard passing seasons, and Caldwell said his worth goes beyond the box score.
“I think when you look at the numbers and all that kind of stuff, we make assessments based on that, and that’s it,” Caldwell said. “But he also did a lot of great things for us. I’ll tell you what, he’s progressing. I’m proud of the way that guy’s playing, and I think also that you’re going to see him get better and better.”