Playing Hurt Proves Lions Not Playing Out The String
Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow played through a broken throat on Sunday. A broken throat.
If he is willing to gut out that performance, people can’t expect the Tennessee Titans simply run over the Detroit Lions on Sunday at Nissan Stadium.
“I’ve known (Ragnow) since he was in high school. And I have a lot of respect for him as a player,” Titans coach Mike Vrabel said Thursday. “I know there are players well-before me, and well-before Frank that have played through pain and discomfort, to go out there and do their best for the team.”
“We’ll just have to be prepared for him to go out there this week because he’s a very good young player.”
Detroit’s season continues to be marred by inconsistency as well as turnover on the sideline and within the front office. On Nov. 28, the Lions fired head coach Matt Patricia and general manager Bob Quinn after a 4-7 start on the season. The final straw for both being a 41-25 loss to the Houston Texans on Thanksgiving.
Since that point, interim head coach Darrell Bevell took over and the Lions have played .500 football. Detroit (5-8) beat a competitive Chicago Bears team in Week 13 and lost by one touchdown to Aaron Rodgers and the Green Bay Packers this past Sunday.
Ragnow playing through a severe injury is further proof that the Lions are not simply playing out the string.
“These guys are amazing,” Bevell said. “Every guy is so different, but particularly these lineman – I mean, obviously [quarterback] Matthew [Stafford] as well – it’s amazing the things they’ll put their bodies through and what they’re willing to fight through.”
In the 34-30 win over Chicago, the offensive line gave Stafford enough time to throw for 402 yards and three touchdowns. In the teams’ first meeting of the season, Stafford threw for fewer than 300 yards with one touchdown, one interception and a 77.2 passer rating.
In Sunday’s 31-24 loss to Green Bay, Detroit played the Packers closer than in its first meeting of the season. The Lions matched the Packers in scoring in every quarter, outside of the third.
“Really, it comes down to (that) they want to be there for their teammates, and they want to be there for – Frank wants to be there for the fellow offensive linemen, but he wants to be there for
his defensive teammates as well,” Bevell said. “It just shows how important this stuff is to these guys, that they’d be willing to go to those lengths to stay in the game and help their team in any way they can.”
Ragnow’s status for this Sunday is undetermined. He too has not practiced this week, and Bevell said the team’s medical personnel have asked the first-round pick in the 2018 draft (20th overall) to rest his voice.
“It’s just important for us to wait until Friday to see how it progresses, where he’s going to be at,” Bevell said. “We really can’t make a statement on if he’s going to play or not – that’s going to be basically up to the medical professionals and specialists to tell us if he can do that.
“We want to make sure that obviously we’re putting him out there in a safe environment, that he’s safe to be able to do that. So, we’ll wait until Friday, and we’ll handle all that as it comes our way.”
It seems clear what Ragnow would say if anyone asked him what he wants to do.
