Stafford: 'It Does Me No Good To Get Lost in My Emotions'
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Collectively, the Detroit Lions are in constant search of the right formula for producing winning football.
When an organization starts off a critical season at 0-2, emotions can sometimes ride too high or too low.
Lions head coach Matt Patricia, along with players and several members of the coaching staff, have emphasized the importance of not riding the emotional waves that naturally occur during the course of a 60-minute football game.
"That’s part of the NFL. It’s a grind, and obviously, the biggest trick to all of it is to try to improve as you go through the year and try to get better. For us, always just kind of working every day to try to get better and come in here and be the same person -- just like I expect the team to be the same every day, because that’s how you really get better," Patricia said Wednesday during his pre-practice media session.
For Detroit quarterback Matthew Stafford, remaining even-keeled is a trait he's learned over the course of his NFL career.
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"It's one of the few positions on the field sometimes where the more emotional, the harder you try, the more worked up you get, the worse you play," Stafford said Wednesday during a video conference with Detroit media.
"A lot of times in football that can be beneficial to guys. I just don't think so. As a quarterback, it doesn't mean that inside I'm not pissed at times or pumped at times or whatever it is. There's all of that in there. But, I've got to make sure that I move on to the next play or the next game or whatever it is.
"I can't let the last one linger. If I go out and throw a pick in a four-minute offense in the Chicago game, I better get my ass ready to go out there and go down on a two-minute drive and try and score a touchdown," he said. "So, it does me no good to get lost in my emotions and how I'm feeling at the moment. I just got to go out there and work to the next play, and help lead our team. I'm trying to do that to the best of my ability."
For the veteran quarterback, watching fellow passers growing up helped shape his on-field persona -- a persona that he feels aids him in leading the team he has played for since 2009.
"I feel like as a quarterback, there's plenty of times in practice to show emotion and to talk to guys and get on guys -- whatever it is I need to do. At the same time, on gameday, we got to go to the next one. We've got to go to the next one and make the next play work," Stafford explained further. "Whether we made the last one work or not, it's just something that I remember watching quarterbacks do when I was a kid growing up. And everybody has their own style of doing it. But, it was obviously something that was important to helping those guys lead their team. So, try to adapt it and put it into my game."
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