Rumors have been swirling for quite some time now that the Detroit Lions are looking to trade quarterback Matthew Stafford.
Head coach Matt Patricia has heard these rumors about his franchise quarterback. And according to Jelani Scott of NFL.com, Patricia says “it's comical” when talking about them.
“It’s comical, kind of, to me, to be honest with you,” Patricia said Thursday on NFL Network. “Not interested in doing any of that. There’s no conversation of that whatsoever. In fact, I was away, I was actually at my college — yeah, the Mighty Engineers — and I was back there when that news broke and I’m looking at my phone, I’m like ‘What is going on?’ and ‘Who is this guy?’ and ‘Who put this out there?’ It was really confusing so just one of those things that, for me, I kind of laugh at because it’s not even a conversation.”
“Honestly, Matt Stafford, I love the guy,” Patricia said. “He’s one of the reasons I came to Detroit when I was looking at different jobs and opportunities and an opportunity to work with a guy like Matthew Stafford. For me, I mean, there’s no question.”
Stafford has been the Lions' starting quarterback since they drafted him first overall back in 2009. Since then, he has become a star and one of the better quarterbacks in the entire NFL.
Last season was looking really good for Stafford, but an injury ended his season early. When Stafford went down, he had 2,499 yards to go along with 19 touchdowns and five interceptions in eight games. The Lions were 3-4-1 in that time, and still poised for a postseason push.
They went 0-8 without him though.
So you could see how Patricia would find trading the quarterback laughable. As he points out, Stafford is one of the reasons he wanted to coach in Detroit. After seeing how important the quarterback is to the team's success, it wouldn't make much sense for Patricia to want him out.
The rumors will still swirl. But for now, we know that Patricia is calling them comical.
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