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Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford injured the middle finger on his throwing hand during Sunday's win against Chicago, and wore a glove the rest of the way.

(Mike Mulholland | MLive.com)

DETROIT -- Matthew Stafford showed up for his postgame press conference dressed a little more casually than normal, sporting a plain white T-shirt under a peacoat and light scarf.

Oh, and a splint wrapped in gauze on his throwing hand.

It turns out Stafford dislocated the middle finger and tore ligaments in his throwing hand during the Detroit Lions' 20-17 win Sunday against the Chicago Bears, according to ESPN.

He completed the game wearing a glove, and will have to wear it the rest of the season. And that's a bad break for the good-luck Lions, who have won eight out of nine to open a two-game lead in the NFC North with three to play.

Stafford has guided eight comebacks this season, a modern NFL record. But he struggled with the injury and glove against Chicago, completing 21 of 35 passes for 223 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. One of them was a pick-six on a ball that lacked his usual zip.

He had thrown just one pick in his last eight games combined.

When asked if his grip or velocity were affected, Stafford replied: "Is there a 'C?' All of the above?"

That causes some concern about how Stafford will fare in the cold-weather game against the Giants next week, and in Dallas on Monday night after that.

Stafford injured the finger on a broken play late in the first quarter. It appeared Zach Zenner blew an assignment, and Stafford rolled out toward nobody except Bears pass rusher Leonard Floyd. Stafford got rid of the ball as Floyd drove him into the ground, but hit his finger on the lineman as he released the pass.

Adding insult to injury, Stafford was whistled for grounding the play.

Stafford began trying on gloves on the sideline, trying to find one that felt right. He hasn't worn gloves in a game since 2011, and was in obvious discomfort while trying to warm up on the sideline.

He began warning receivers that his passes would lose something.

"He told us that it would affect him," said receiver Anquan Boldin, who caught a 16-yard touchdown pass from Stafford after the injury. "Just told us to stick with him. He made some throws when he had to, and I thought he played good. Gutsy run on that last one, but that's Matt. He's an ultimate competitor."

Stafford hasn't missed a game since 2010, and made 94 consecutive starts including the playoffs. He's done so through injury, too, including to both arms and his chest last year. Nobody questions his toughness.

But injuries to the throwing hand can affect quarterback play. Stafford played through a broken finger in 2011, but threw nine picks during one three-game stretch. He didn't look like his usual self against Chicago, either.

On this day, though, Stafford had enough left to orchestrate an eighth fourth-quarter comeback. And he finished it off himself with a 7-yard dash through the heart of Chicago's defense, busted hand and all.

"I just tried to play through it -- play as good as I could," Stafford said. "Let those guys know that it might not be pretty coming in there, but they made some great plays for me. Obviously didn't play as well as good as I can."