"When Shaun Hill suffered a broken right index finger three years ago, he tried to play through the injury and paid deeply. He won't be so reckless this time.

Hill suffered a broken right index finger at the top knuckle in the first quarter of last week's Thanksgiving loss to the Patriots. He stayed in and finished the game, but won't play Sunday against the Bears and is out indefinitely.

"I just kept playing with it (the first time), and it turned my whole joint into bone dust and needed to take a bone out of my left hand to reconstruct that joint," Hill said. "I can't do that on this one. I just can't. Definitely got to make sure that it gets healed."

Hill said he plans to return before the season's over, but wouldn't put a timetable on his recovery Wednesday.

The Lions (2-9) have decided not to put Hill on injured reserve and end his season in the hope he can play this month.

"I like to think that historically I'm a pretty quick healer," Hill said. "We'll keep playing it by ear and see what happens, but I think definitely before the season's over."

In eight starts this year in place of Matthew Stafford, Hill has completed 61% of his passes for a career-best 2,206 yards."