Matthew Stafford and Jake Delhomme, two National Football League quarterbacks whose teams are not going to the playoffs, ended their seasons early on Thursday.
The Detroit Lions placed Stafford on injured reserve ahead of minor right knee surgery while the Carolina Panthers put Delhomme on injured reserve because of a broken finger on his throwing hand.
The Lions are 2-12, the NFL’s second-worst mark to one-win St Louis, while Carolina are 6-8.
PHOTO: AFP
Stafford was benched after a physical exam showed he would not be fit to play in time for the team’s last regular-season game next Sunday against Chicago.
“We anticipate a minor surgery just to clean out some irritants and debris,” Lions coach Jim Schwartz said. “He has had on and off swelling. It’s been stuff he’s been able to play through, but it’s also something we knew we needed to address after the season.”
Stafford, the top selection in this year’s NFL Draft, completed 201-of-377 passes for 2,267 yards and 13 touchdowns. He threw five touchdown passes against Cleveland to match a 72-year-old NFL one-game record and set an NFL rookie record with 422 yards passing against the Browns.
Stafford guided the Lions past Washington 19-14 in September to snap Detroit’s 19-game losing streak, the second-longest in league history.
Delhomme’s injury, suffered in a loss to the New York Jets last month, sidelined him for the past four weeks. The decision to bench him drew a final close to the worst season of his career.
“We thought he might be further along as far as his finger,” Carolina coach John Fox said. “We kind of looked at it this week as far as gripping the ball, throwing the ball and it wasn’t up to speed.”
Delhomme, 34, received a five-year deal worth more than US$25 million before the season but threw 18 interceptions and only eight touchdowns in 11 games this season, making his future with the Panthers uncertain.
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