Lions’ Frank Ragnow, still not talking much, will again see specialist for fractured throat
Updated Dec 22, 2020;
Posted Dec 22, 2020
Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow (77) plays against the Houston Texans during the second half of an NFL football game, Thursday, Nov. 26, 2020, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Paul Sancya)AP
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ALLEN PARK Frank Ragnow still isn’t supposed to talk much while resting his fractured throat, making any congratulatory calls for making his first Pro Bowl a little awkward.
Detroit Lions interim coach Darrell Bevell said he FaceTime called Ragnow, immediately instructing him not to speak upon answering. Ragnow was named to the NFC’s Pro Bowl roster on Monday, in just his third season in the league. He was one of three Lions players to make the cut, joining punter Jack Fox and tight end T.J. Hockenson.
And then he played Sunday. And pretty well, too.
“Yeah, it was a long process all week,” Stafford said. “Our trainers did a great job and, yeah, to be honest with you, early on in the week, I didn t think I was going to be able to play.”
Stafford suffered his injury late in last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers a game he couldn’t finish because of the injury. X-rays were negative. He didn’t really start to feel better until Friday, when he practiced on a limited basis.
“(I) came in, was feeling okay, and then guys started jogging around in practice and I decided to see how it was feeling,” he said. “And it felt OK and moved around a little bit, threw some balls there and hopped in a drill or two and felt OK. And then it just continued to get a little bit better yesterday and today, and then just decided to give it a go and felt good enough to go there for a little bit and was able to make it.”
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Swift run:D’Andre Swift scored two rushing touchdowns for the second time this season. That gives him seven rushing TDs for the season and nine overall with two on receptions. It s the most TDs scored by a Lions rookie since Barry Sanders had 14 – all rushing – as a rookie in 1989.
– Mike O Hara
Stafford toughness: Of all the games Matthew Stafford s started and played with injuries, he said Sunday s game in Tennessee was among the most unlikely he thought he d suit up for early in the week due to the rib injury suffered the week prior. Stafford came through the game pretty well after interim head coach Darrell Bevell removed him from the contest in the fourth quarter with the game out of hand.
Lions’ Matthew Stafford determined to play through injury: ‘My ass is going to be out there’
Updated Dec 20, 2020;
NASHVILLE, Tenn. Why would Matthew Stafford even try to play?
It’s a question some were asking after the Detroit Lions quarterback suffered a painful rib injury last week against Green Bay. The Lions are buried in last place and out of the playoff hunt. So what’s the point of Stafford even trying to play on Sunday against the Tennessee Titans?
Of course, people asking those questions don’t know Matthew Stafford very well. Because for Matthew Stafford, the answer to these questions is always the same.
Ultimately, though, Bevell thought it was a challenge he would not win. There was three (TV) shots that we ended up having, Bevell said. Two of the shots clearly looked short and the other one looked close, and normally those yards, the line-to-gain plays are hard challenges to win.
The Lions tried their first fake punt of the season early in the fourth quarter of Sunday s 46-25 loss to the Tennessee Titans.
They trailed by 14 points at the time, and sent their punt team onto the field on fourth-and- 4 with just over 12 minutes to play.
In a fake the Lions had been working on for weeks, Don Muhlbach snapped the ball to Moore, the Lions personal protector for punts. Moore ran a sweep around right end, but was hit by Nick Westbrook-Ikhine just before the 35-yard line.