So sad: he might not play again Detroit Lions quarterback serious injury….

THERE WERE EIGHT seconds left in the game on Nov. 22, 2009, when Detroit Lions rookie quarterback Matthew Stafford took a vicious sack from Cleveland Browns linebacker C.J. Mosley.

Stafford laid on the field in pain before making his way to the sideline, where he was checked by the Lions’ medical staff. As the group discussed the quarterback’s injury, he heard the Browns call a timeout. The stoppage allowed Stafford to return for the final play, an untimed down after a penalty in the end zone. Stafford found receiver Brandon Pettigrew for his fifth touchdown — and the winner — to become the first rookie to throw five in a game since 1937.

With Stafford wearing a mic, NFL films immortalized the play, and it’s one that current Los Angeles Rams teammate Cooper Kupp harkens back to.

“It’s the embodiment of saying, ‘Hey, shoot, there’s a timeout. I have a chance to get back in the game,” Kupp said. “‘Coach, if you need me, I can throw. I’m here if you need me.’ And being able to come in and do what he did. That’s what I think of. And he’s embodied that from being a spry little rookie to what he is now.”

The Lions later found out Stafford separated his shoulder on the play. He played two more games that season before aggravating the injury. Because he wouldn’t be cleared for the season finale and needed minor knee surgery during the offseason, Stafford ended the year on injured reserve.

That toughness Kupp witnessed from afar, he’s now seen time and time again up close since Stafford came to Rams in a trade in 2021. It was molded for 12 seasons with Detroit and has continued in Los Angeles, where he led the Rams to a Super Bowl victory two seasons ago. On Sunday night (8 p.m. ET, NBC), Stafford will be back at Ford Field for the first time, looking to end his former team’s Super Bowl hopes.

The wild-card matchup with the Rams (10-7) will be the first playoff game the Lions (12-5) have hosted since the 1993 season. During Stafford’s time in Detroit, the Lions played in three road playoff games, all losses. Stafford has a career average of 277.7 pass yards per game at Ford Field, the fourth-highest by any quarterback at a single stadium in NFL history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

“I had a lot of experiences there over 12 years,” Stafford said. “All my daughters were born there. My wife and I went through things there that the team and the city, the group, the town, everybody supported. So I have nothing but great memories there. Obviously didn’t get it done on the field as much as I wish we could have. But the people that I was lucky enough to know and grow with are people that I’m still close with today and mean a lot to me.”

STAFFORD’S FIRST GLIMPSE into what he believed an NFL quarterback should be came from watching Green Bay Packers Hall of Famer Brett Favre.

“He was the guy that showed up every Sunday no matter what was going on,” Stafford said. “Broken thumb, didn’t matter, he was going to find a way to be there for his guys.”

So despite the injuries in Detroit — and there were a lot — Stafford wanted to make sure he was available as much as he could be, “trying to show up every single week to be there for the guys, no matter what the record was, what the score was, how you were feeling.”

It’s something that resonated with Lions offensive tackle Taylor Decker, who played with Stafford for four seasons. One year, Stafford was dealing with back and hand injuries late in the season and the Lions were already eliminated from the playoffs.

Decker heard someone ask Stafford why he was playing through the injuries and Stafford reply, “Well, it’s Sunday and I’m the quarterback, so I’m going to go out there and play.”

“That’s just a badass thing to say,” Decker said. “… I think it kind of set the expectation for me that if you can be out there and help the team, then you should.”

That’s how Rams offensive tackle Joe Noteboom felt in Week 4, when he strained his groin against the Indianapolis Colts. Earlier in the game, he had seen Stafford walking gingerly after taking a hard hit, an injury that was eventually diagnosed as a hip contusion. Stafford was moving with a noticeable limp for the rest of the game, his muscles shutting down on him, he said. And so when Noteboom injured his groin, he knew he couldn’t leave the game, knowing what Stafford “was fighting through.”

“To see your quarterback just push through pain like he’s done in numerous games this year, in the past, it makes you want to fight for him even more no matter what you’ve got going on,” Noteboom said.

The Rams won that game in overtime when Stafford threw a touchdown to Puka Nacua, the first of the rookie’s career. It was one Nacua won’t forget, in part because he felt responsible for Stafford’s injury.

“It was my guy who ran free and hit Matthew in the hip causing him to have his hip injury,” Nacua said. “And I just remember thinking, ‘Wow, Puka. Everybody on the team is going to hate you. It was your fault that Matthew got hurt.’ And just thinking in my head, ‘Wow, that was the biggest screwup I could have out of all the things.’ … But him being able to get up, get back up and fight through that game and do what he did in that game and then the games [later in the season], he is the epitome of toughness.”