Matthew Stafford practices with Lions' first-team offense

Tim Twentyman / The Detroit News

Allen Park --The Lions' quarterback of the present and future was back at practice Tuesday, feeling better than he has in nearly a month.

Matthew Stafford took snaps with the first-team offense during the portion of practice open to media. He showed no ill effects from the injury. Afterward, he said he took approximately half of the snaps in practice and didn't feel restricted at all.

"This is the most I've done on it other than that Wednesday (of last week) and it felt better than it did that Wednesday," Stafford said. "I don't know if I could say how much better or how close (I am) to 100 percent."

Stafford, who suffered a partially dislocated right knee cap in Chicago on Oct. 4, also dismissed rumors he would need season-ending surgery.

"I'm not getting surgery," he said, laughing. "I don't know where that came from. When I first hurt my knee it's the first question anybody has. Do I need surgery or not? They said no from the jump."

Now the question is whether Stafford will start Sunday against the St. Louis Rams.

"I don't know," Stafford said. "We'll see. It's a long week. We've got to figure out how this thing is going to react."

If Stafford doesn't start, Daunte Culpepper probably will. Culpepper, also bothered by a knee injury, returned to practice Tuesday.

The team should have a better idea of Stafford's status today when it checks how his knee responded to Tuesday's practice. Last Wednesday, Stafford's knee swelled after a workout, and he sat out the week's remaining practices.

Stafford acknowledged he underwent a second MRI exam, which the Lions reportedly sent to Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala. for a second opinion

"I didn't think it was that big of a deal," Stafford said. "The second MRI, I think it was just to make sure everything was fine, and then once we realized it was, it was fine."

Today will be a key day for Stafford as coaches and training staff look to see if there's any swelling after Tuesday's practice. If there's swelling, Stafford will likely sit out the remainder of practice this week and Sunday's game. If there's no swelling, Stafford will continue practicing while listed as a game-time decision by coach Jim Schwartz.

Schwartz indicated the team will be careful with its prized rookie.

"I think every day would be classified as big," Schwartz said referring to Stafford. "Say you go through Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday something happens. When you're coming back from something, every day is big and you can't have any setbacks along the way."

Johnson still out

While Stafford's progress was encouraging, the same couldn't be said for receiver Calvin Johnson .

Johnson continued to be held out of practice because of the right knee injury he suffered against Pittsburgh on Oct. 11. Johnson had his knee in a sleeve and brace but did some running and pass catching on the sideline.

"It feels a lot better in a whole week's time," Johnson said. "They gave me a lot of time to get a lot of rehab in and get a lot of improvements, so it feels a lot better since last week. I did a little bit more today. We stepped it up just to see where we're at.

"It's something we have to take day by day to see how it goes. As long as it goes according to schedule, we'll be able to make a decision off of that. I'm definitely optimistic about it, though not positive about what's going to happen."

Getting healthier

Defensive tackle Sammy Hill was back at practice for the first time in three weeks after suffering an ankle injury against the Washington Redskins in Week 3.

Safety Ko Simpson (hamstring) and defensive end Dewayne White (hamstring) also returned to practice.

Johnson, defensive end Jason Hunter (ankle) and fullback Jerome Felton (shoulder) were the only players held out of practice.

ttwentyman@detnews.com