Matthew Stafford has said that he is pleased with the Detroit Lions' progress during the pre-season.

The NFC North side's starters have played seven series during the team's opening two games of the pre-season.

The quarterback told The AP: "Offense is about execution, and we just haven't done that as well as we needed during the games. But I'm really pleased with where we are as an offense.

"We had a great off-season off the field, bringing in new guys, and now we've had a great off-season on the field. We've got a lot of guys who have worked very hard and stepped up their games this year."

The Lions play the New England Patriots tonight.