It's been a trying past couple months for the Stafford family. Kelly Stafford, the wife of Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford, found out she had a brain tumor last month. She underwent surgery in April and thankfully has been recovering nicely ever since.
Stafford has had to balance his responsibilities as a husband and a teammate but thankfully was able to return to the team soon after his wife's surgery since everything was going well.
It's an important year for the Lions as they head into the second year of the Matt Patricia era. They have a new offensive coordinator in Darrell Bevell, which means a whole new playbook as well. Stafford said that even with everything that's going on at home, he's still intensely focused on the upcoming season.
“It's not old hat. It's a bunch of new stuff,” Stafford said Tuesday after the team's OTA practice, per Dan Murphy of ESPN.com. “It's stuff I have to really dive deep into and make sure I'm on top of my game because I'm getting questions right and left from those guys and trying to help them out as much as I can. That's not to say I'm forgetting everything that's going on back home, but I for sure am locked in when I'm here.”
Per Murphy, Patricia called Stafford an “unbelievable professional” for the way he's been able to handle everything this offseason. Obviously family and health are more important than football, but it's good to see that Stafford has been able to get back on the field.
“I was ready to do whatever I needed to do to help her,” Stafford said. “She's as tough as they come and did such a great job that luckily I was able to get back here in somewhat of a timely manner. The support we had from family and friends is what really made it possible,” he explained.
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