First they taped the upper part of his right leg, just above the knee. Then he took another hit, and they taped around the ankle and foot too.
But Matthew Stafford kept playing. He threw two late touchdown passes to Darren Fells too. Then he hobbled back to the bench, where he'd have another conversation with trainers. And on at least one occasion, get yet another tape job.
By the end of Detroit's 27-24 loss against Carolina, Stafford looked like he was more tape than man. Then his left hand started bleeding. He kept playing through that too.
Stafford was quoted as saying he'll be ok, but neither he nor head coach Jim Caldwell went into details about Stafford's injuries. Stafford's normal press conference was canceled and the story said he was in the training room after the game.