The Detroit Lions are going to be tough enough to stomach on Thanksgiving for a football nation as it is.

They’re being blacked out locally on television on a regular basis, but the nation will have no choice and no game to flip to when the Lions kick off with the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. The remote won’t save you from the Lions.

The question is will quarterback Matthew Stafford, one of the real bright spots as you look ahead to the Lions’ future, be suited up? Stafford has an injured left shoulder and if things go like they did earlier in the year when he had a knee injury and missed two games, coach Jim Schwartz isn’t likely to say much.

Schwartz did say that X-rays ruled out a broken collarbone. Stafford was injured on the second-to-final play of the game when the Lions picked up a key pass interference penalty, setting up Stafford’s game-winning touchdown pass to tight end Brandon Pettigrew in their 38-37 victory over the hapless Cleveland Browns.

Browns defensive lineman C.J. Mosley pummeled Stafford on his Hail Mary throw, and his left arm was limp against his body when he came off the field after the game in which he threw five touchdown passes, an NFL rookie record.

“His right arm was good,” Schwartz said. “He'd come way too far in that game to not finish it.”

It would be a shame to have to see the Lions without Stafford.

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