Has Team Turned On Matthew Stafford? Valenti And Foster Lay Out Evidence
DETROIT (CBS Detroit) It's not looking good for Lions' quarterback Matthew Stafford after he was benched during a brutal loss last weekend. CBS Detroit's Ashley Scoby investigated how many franchise quarterbacks have come back from a benching, and that looked dismal for Stafford, too.
Does it get worse? On their show Thursday afternoon, Mike Valenti and Terry Foster laid out all the evidence that they feel proves Stafford's teammates have turned on him.
"It's clear Golden Tate isn't happy," Valenti said.
Producer David "Hatchet Man" Hull believes the "writing is on the wall" for Staffford, Valenti said.
And here's the evidence:
BRIAN BILLICK: Brian Billick, a longtime NFL analyst who works for the NFL Network, said this about Stafford in a radio interview Thursday.
"When you pull a quarterback in the NFL, you're going down a path you can't go back on," Billick said. "And I know Jim Caldwell. I've done that, been there, and what do you do immediately afterward, 'No, no, it was a moment, and he's our guy, and we're going forward.' That's hard to do. ...
"You pull a quarterback like Matthew Stafford, intentionally or unintentionally, you have put him and your relationship with him and your organization on a path that rarely, if ever, ends well."
Guys like Stafford don't get benched, Valenti said.
JIM CALDWELL: Stafford's head coach Caldwell had something interesting to say when explaining to the media Thursday why the team is still winless this season.
"From my vantage point, the problem is not what plays are being called, and so that's window dressing," Caldwell said. "I think when you make adjustments – and those kinds of adjustments happen sometimes in places, where people just cannot stand the pressure and all of a sudden, they make changes and then the next guy changes and you still have the same problems, and it's someone else's fault. But the fact of the matter is he is calling plays that should work and we've just had problems executing."
For the third piece of evidence, Valenti and Foster pointed to a Joique Bell comment during his weekly interview on the Stoney and Bill with Sara morning show.
When asked if he felt for Matthew Stafford when he was benched, he hedged and avoided answering the question. Eventually, he said this: "Did I feel for him as a teammate? No comment on that."
"Wrap all three together and I think this team has turned on Stafford," Valenti said.