ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Matthew Stafford and the Detroit Lions are being coy about the rookie quarterback's injured right knee and his playing status.
Is the kneecap dislocated?
"Really not sure," Stafford said Thursday after missing a second consecutive practice.
Will you play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers?
"I don't know," Stafford said. "We'll see."
Lions coach Jim Schwartz refused to be remotely forthcoming when asked for an update on his quarterback.
"The injury report will be out at 4 o'clock," Schwartz said during a terse interview session that lasted about 20 seconds.
Stafford had his right knee twisted on a sack during Sunday's loss at Chicago.
"Obviously any time you tweak something, it's scary," he said.
Stafford, the No. 1 overall pick in the NFL draft, said he did receive good news from tests because there was no structural damage in his knee and surgery wasn't deemed necessary.
The Lions, though, hadn't cleared Stafford to run four days after he was injured.
"They're just trying to get the swelling out," he said.
Daunte Culpepper would start if Stafford can't play, but the 11-year NFL veteran isn't interested in discussing anything with reporters.
"I have nothing to say until something changes from my perspective," Culpepper said.
Stafford said he hurt the same knee in high school -- during a freak accident on a Slip 'N Slide, according to his father -- but it was a different injury.
"I had a sprained MCL and a bunch of other stuff," Stafford said.
After Stafford spoke with reporters, one of them said his kneecap looked good.
"It's in the front," Stafford said jokingly as he touched his right knee.
Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press
