Allen Park -- The Lions' "Arm-chise" is back, fully loaded and ready to fire.
Matthew Stafford returned to practice with his teammates on Wednesday for the first time since opening week. If there was any falloff in arm strength or accuracy from the shoulder injury sustained in the first game against Chicago, it wasn't noticeable to his teammates.
Running back Jahvid Best watched from the sideline to help his injured toes heal. From Best's viewpoint, Stafford had his usual zip on some deep passes.
"I saw him throw a couple," Best said. "It was good to see that."
The Lions have a bye this week, so practices are different than during a a typical game-week. There were 17 of the 53 active players who did not participate in practice, including starting receivers Calvin Johnson and Nate Burleson, and the top two tailbacks, Best and Kevin Smith.
Stafford has been throwing the last two weeks, but not with the team during practice because of the need to get practice time for quarterbacks who played in the games.
Stafford said his injury was diagnosed as a separated A/C joint in the right shoulder, which occurred when he was sacked late in the first half by Bears defensive end Julius Peppers.
He didn't feel any restrictions or weakness while throwing, Stafford said.
"I felt pretty good," Stafford said. "I don't know if it was 100 percent or 98. It was right up there."
The timing of Stafford's return is good, not only because the Lions have a bye. Shaun Hill, who started five games in Stafford's absence, sustained a broken right forearm in last week's loss to the Giants. Hill will be out for several weeks.
Stafford and Drew Stanton are the only healthy quarterbacks on the roster. If Stafford wasn't ready to practice and play, the Lions would be down to Stanton and would have to sign someone to be his backup.
Stafford wasn't worried that the injury would hurt his delivery, or lessen his arm strength.
"It wasn't like a rotator cuff or a labrum," he said, referring to two injuries that would have been more debilitating. "It had nothing to do with the motion of throwing the ball."
Wednesday's practice session and the ones that will follow are important to Stafford because of the stress he has to put on him arm. Even though quarterbacks are off limits to contact in practice, Stafford had make some throws while moving to receivers who were covered.
The stress level is higher than standing and throwing, or even throwing to receivers running patterns without any other players on the field.
"It was good work for him," coach Jim Schwartz said. "He did a lot of different things. He had some movement in the pocket. He got to adjust to coverage.
"Even in seven-on-seven, you've got to move around a little bit. He had a good practice."
Follett update
Linebacker Zack Follett will take tests later this week to further evaluate a neck injury sustained on a kickoff return against the Giants.
Follett lost feeling after being hit on the right side of his helmet. He was kept overnight in a hospital and returned to Detroit Monday morning.
Schwartz indicated that Follett's absence will be lengthy.
"It isn't going to change daily," Follett said. "It's going to be a time thing."
Injuries/personnel
Defensive back Jack Williams has been taken off the physically-unable-to-perform list but is not on the active roster. The Lions have three weeks to observe Williams in practice to decide whether to activate him or keep him out for the entire season.
Williams sustained a knee injury last year.
Defensive back Donte Williams was released on Tuesday, but not because he drew a costly penalty late in Sunday's game for blocking a Giants cover man out of bounds during a Lions punt return.
Williams played almost exclusively on special teams, and the roster spot is needed for a position player, Schwartz said.
Except for Hill, none of the players who did not practice Wednesday appear to have injuries that will keep them out of the next game, against Washington on Oct. 31 at Ford Field.
Oct. 20, 2010
