NEW ORLEANS -- Matthew Stafford got an interesting greeting Sunday from one of his former teammates.

In the first drive of the Detroit Lions' 28-13 win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, Stafford scrambled in the red zone for nine yards and was tackled on the play by defensive tackle Nick Fairley, his Lions teammate for four seasons and a fellow first-round pick.

That in itself was fine. But to Stafford, what Fairley did after -- appearing to hit Stafford’s face -- was not. Stafford got pretty animated after what Stafford said Fairley deemed a "love tap," throwing his hands up as if to say, "What gives?"

"I didn't think it was very playful," Stafford said. "But that's probably because I was on the receiving end. But no, I asked him what was going on and he said it was a love tap. So I don't know, whatever, we won, it's fine with me."

Stafford said he and Fairley are buddies, that Stafford likes him and joked "he likes me, I thought." The tap came after Stafford eluded multiple New Orleans defenders for another gain -- an added part to his arsenal this season.

Fairley, like Stafford, downplayed it after and couldn't recall the particular play.

"I know we bumped shoulders one time walking away from a play," Fairley said. "But it was all love and games. We talked trash, he said something to me, I said something to him. He threw his shoulder, I threw mine.

"It was so funny because it seemed like we took the same amount of steps, then turned around and looked at each other and started smiling. So it's cool."

ESPN NFL Nation Saints reporter Mike Triplett contributed to this report.