Several Lions players hurting, including Matthew Stafford

Allen Park — Matthew Stafford is hurting once again. The Detroit Lions ironman quarterback was limited during Thursday's practice with hip and back injuries. 

There's currently no reason to believe Stafford, in the midst of one of the best season's of his career, is jeopardy of missing this Sunday's game against the Chicago Bears. He's currently working on a starting streak that has reached 136 games, the second-longest among active quarterbacks and sixth-longest all-time for the position. 

In addition to Stafford, four Lions players sat out practice and three others were limited. Included in the group that sat out was punter Sam Martin, who is dealing with an abdominal injury suffered in last weekend's game against the Oakland Raiders. 

The team was also without guard Joe Dahl, safety Tracy Walker and defensive lineman Da'Shawn Hand. Guard Graham Glasgow (back) and defensive tackle A'Shawn Robinson (ankle) and defensive tackle Mike Daniels (foot) were limited. 

Walker missed the game against the Raiders with a knee injury, while Hand and Dahl were injured during the contest. Dahl exited during Detroit's final possession with a left ankle injury, while Hand briefly retreated to the locker room before returning to action with an ankle injury, which continued to impact him into this week. 

Since the Lions spend a portion of their Wednesday practice working on the coverage units, the team added former Michigan punter Matt Wile to the practice squad. Since going undrafted in 2015, Detroit will be his seventh professional stop.

Wile has appeared in 22 games, including two with the Atlanta Falcons this season. He's averaged a healthy 45.5 yards on his 90 punts, with a 42.3-yard net. In Atlanta, he also handled kickoff duties. 

Martin has started 34 consecutive games for the Lions since an offseason foot injury sidelined him the first six weeks of the 2017 season. In 2019, he's averaging 43.8 yards per punt this season with a 40.5 net average. 

In addition to Wile, the Lions also added former Alabama running back Bo Scarbrough to the practice squad, releasing former Wayne State linebacker Anthony Pittman to make room. 

A seventh-round draft pick last year, the 6-foot-1, 235-pound Scarbrough has not appeared in a regular season game.