Maybe everything is fine with Matthew Stafford. Maybe not.

This is an opinion piece from MLive.com's reporter, Kyle Meinke.

HOUSTON – Maybe everything is fine for Matthew Stafford. Maybe there is nothing wrong with him. Maybe the Lions really like what he did and do not think he needs pre-season work. May be.

And maybe if he practiced better, I would buy it all.

But he is not.

Stafford was not mean at camp, but he was not really good either. He was higher and lower than in any of my previous six camps with him. Sometimes, like the first day of practice with Houston, he's fine. Other times, like the second day of joint practice with Houston, he certainly does not do it.

The same thing happened last week with New England. It was OK the first day, then much better the second day.

Then he took a week off.

Listen, a day off here or there for a 31-year-old quarterback is not entirely unknown. But a week off is rare for all, regardless of age, and especially for a guy who has not had a "rest" for 10 years. He had missed only one day of practice since 2012: it was the signing of the biggest contract in the history of the NFL.

"It was a scheduled break in the middle of the camp that we had talked to him before July," said coach Matt Patricia announcing the break, "where we thought it might be a good opportunity to get out of New England. England (common practices), before heading to Houston (for more joint practice), it will be another kind of intense day of practice.

Maybe that's all it was. May be. But it seems extremely strange that Stafford took the longest break of his career in the middle of his most incoherent camp of all time. Then he went down to Houston, struggled again and – what a coincidence! – skipped a second consecutive preseason game for the first time in his career. Josh Johnson started in his place and Detroit lost 30-23.

Here is the reason that prompted Patricia to retain Stafford for a second week in the pre-season: "I think for us, when we ended up here for practice and everything else, I think we had a lot of clichés on the practice field that we really thought of ourselves offensively, and we thought we had the work we needed. And sometimes, in the exercises, the program and the things we do are a bit more elaborate than what we do in the game. "

OK, it's true that the Lions had two long weeks of practice. It is also true that they can do a lot with Stafford in these common practices that they can not do in a preparatory match. But what Patricia refuses to recognize is a change from the way they treated Stafford before.

The Lions also spent two long weeks training with the Raiders and Giants, and they played at Stafford again in three shows. He participated in joint practices with the Colts in 2017 and the Steelers in 2016, and participated in four exhibitions during both seasons. And these were two of the best seasons of his career.

All I know is Stafford throwing more incoherently than I used to see. He also tries to learn a new offense and works with a new center – and the Lions suddenly say he needs to less work only in the pre-season? Hey, maybe it's really good to go there. Maybe he's really mastered the offense. Maybe he really has nothing to do by throwing him out for 15 snapshots in pre-season, and as much protecting him from danger. May be.

But all the signs indicate something else. My best guess: Detroit is at least aware that Stafford is not quite right yet. So he decided to sit against Houston to protect him from potential bombing without any of his starting receivers. This would only reinforce concerns about the quarterback of the franchise.

If there's one thing to know about all this, it's that Stafford sitting gave Josh Johnson the opportunity to make some very necessary snapshots in this offense. He signed with Detroit just over a week ago and could be the No. 2 post leader because of Tom Savage's brain injury.

Johnson was not very good against Houston, completing 9 of 18 passes for 85 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. His eight playoffs produced five shots, two turnovers and a goal scoring, the only first failure of which was a 42-yard pass interference. The Lions were beaten 113-13 in the first quarter, moved the chains only in the second quarter and did not score any offensive touch until David Fales came into play in the third.

It was again a reminder of the madness of this team if Matthew Stafford could not succeed.

No maybes about it.