Lions' Cooter: Stafford's IQ 'higher than a lot of us'

Dave Birkett | Detroit Free Press

Jim Caldwell called it "hogwash," and today, Jim Bob Cooter joined the chorus of Detroit Lions refuting a report that Matthew Stafford's inability to grasp Joe Lombardi's offense held the team back this season.

"Not an issue at all," Cooter said. "He's a very intelligent guy. He handles everything we ask him to handle extremely well. Have no issue with that at all."

Stafford has thrown 11 interceptions through eight games, and his struggles have highlighted deeper issues with the Lions' offense.

Stafford is completing a career-high 64.5% of his passes, but he's on pace for his fewest yards since 2010 and has taken 22 sacks.

On Wednesday, Stafford said he's at fault for some of the protection problems that have haunted the Lions (1-7) this year.

"When there's communication breakdowns, I'll take credit for those," Stafford said. "I've got to do a better job of making sure guys hear me and it's, obviously, a two-way street, but that's basically what my responsibilities are, is make sure everybody's on the same page. So I'll leave it at that."

Cooter, who said he has tweaked the Lions' system to highlight more of the concepts he likes since taking over from Lombardi two weeks ago, praised Stafford's ability to digest the offense.

"I think his IQ's higher than a lot of us in here, including myself," Cooter said. "So he's a really smart guy, and he's doing exactly what we ask on a lot of the things."

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

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