Matthew Stafford Still Trusts Rookie D'Andre Swift
Despite rookie D'Andre Swift making a critical error in Sunday's 27-23 loss to the Chicago Bears, he still has the support of Detroit's franchise passer.
When asked if he would have any reservations in the future to target Swift in a critical moment, Matthew Stafford quickly dismissed that notion.
"Oh, no, not at all," Stafford said Wednesday during a video conference with Detroit media. "Throwing it to him 100 times out of 100. Trust that kid. He'll make the play."
Teammates and the coaching staff have made concerted efforts to not publicly blame Swift for the late-game error, which would have given Detroit the victory over its NFC North rival.
Slow start against Chicago
It had been nearly 12 months since Stafford had taken the field to play in an NFL game.
The 12th-year veteran quarterback shared his thoughts on returning to action after such a long layoff.
"I felt like it took me a little bit too long to get settled into this one. I wasn't efficient enough early, and I don't know (if) that was because I hadn't played in a game or just didn't get into the flow," Stafford commented.
He added, "I'm trying to make sure it doesn't happen again. Just try to get going as fast as we possibly can and make sure that we're not going three-and-out early and keeping our defense off the field. So, I'm not sure that had anything to do with it -- being off the field for a long time or not. But, certainly trying to start fast every game myself and our team included."
A familiar rival
Stafford has stated his respect and admiration for one of the game's great quarterbacks in Green Bay Packers franchise passer Aaron Rodgers.
Both have been with their respective franchises for several seasons, and have often stated publicly their enjoyment of playing against one another.
"He's been playing this game for a long time and doing a great job. I've obviously got to compete against him a bunch of times," Stafford said. "He's playing at a high level again this year. I think he's done a great job of kind of adapting to that system, and still doing his own thing and making plays. (He) is as dangerous as they come in the NFL. Our team knows that. I personally have a ton of respect for how he plays the game and how he leads that team."
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