Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford refuses to blame the injured finger on his throwing hand or the glove he wears to protect it for his relative ineffectiveness the past three games.
"I don't think so," Stafford told reporters Wednesday (via ESPN.com), when asked if the finger was a problem. "You know, you look back at (the interceptions) and maybe the one in Chicago was a poor throw, behind him. For the most part, it's been more (decision-making) or close (plays) here or there.
"So it's something that obviously I'm trying to eliminate as much as possible," he said of the interceptions, "while still staying aggressive."
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While Stafford has thrown for only slightly fewer yards per game since the injury, 252 vs. 265, he's been intercepted four times in those three games, after being picked off five times in the 12 games before the injury.
He completed a season-low 56.5 percent of his passes (26 of 46) in Monday's loss at Dallas and has only one TD pass in the three-game span. Besides the interceptions, Stafford also lost a fumble and was sacked four times against the Cowboys.
Protecting the ball this week in an NFC North showdown against the Packers will be even more crucial than usual, coach Jim Caldwell said, though he didn't place the blame for the recent plague solely on Stafford.
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"Turnovers … certainly make a difference in the ballgame, and there's a lot of stuff that goes into it," Caldwell said. "It's not necessarily his injury or anything of that nature, I don't think, but the really important thing is for us to make certain that we get out of that and get ourselves in position to play well."
