Lions' Stafford gets X-rays on hand, says he'll be OK

Matthew Stafford ended his second game against the Minnesota Vikings in the same place he ended the first - the X-ray room.

Stafford hurt his left hand in the second half of today's 28-19 loss to the Vikings, but finished the game and said he doesn't expect the injury to be an issue going forward.

"I think it's OK," Stafford said. "We'll see."

Stafford, who needed X-rays on his ribs and chest after the Vikings beat the Lions 26-16 last month, took another pounding from Minnesota's aggressive defensive front today.

The Vikings sacked Stafford seven times and laid 13 hits on a quarterback who's now taken 16 sacks on the year.

Stafford completed just 18 of 26 passes for 256 yards today after starting the game 7-for-7, but Lions coach Jim Caldwell said the left hand injury didn't seem to affect him down the stretch.

Stafford met briefly with trainers after he was sacked for the fifth time late in the third quarter, and returned to the game on the next possession with a wrap and glove on his left hand.

Backup quarterback Dan Orlovsky warmed up briefly on the sideline but did not enter the game.

"Obviously, (he) felt it and it was a little bit of an issue for him there for a little bit, so he's getting it looked at obviously to see what the extent of it is," Caldwell said. "But I asked him if he could function and he could function fine. But we couldn't take any pressure off him running the ball. We were not effective."

Stafford, who's been hit 21 times in two games by the Vikings this year, played a week after suffering bruised ribs against the Vikings last month.

"I didn't study (the X-rays), so I don't know (what the results were)," Stafford said. "I wouldn't think (anything is wrong)."

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.

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