The Lions are set to be without their Pro Bowl center for an extended period. Frank Ragnow suffered a torn pectoral muscle during the team’s Week 3 win, Dan Campbell confirmed Tuesday.
Campbell said during an appearance on 97.1’s Costa & Jansen with Heather (via ESPN.com’s Eric Woodyard) the veteran blocker wants to keep playing. The Lions look to have dodged a bullet, with NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport indicating it is a partial tear. Still, Ragnow should be expected to miss time.
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“He’s tough; he’s stubborn, so he wants to go, and he always wants to go, but this is something we’re still talking about right now,” Campbell said. “I’m not entirely sure what we’re gonna do with him. A lot of it is where is he gonna feel by middle or end of the week, but he does have something in there and he did play through some of this last week.”
Last year showed pectoral tears are not season-enders, with the Lions among the teams to see successful rehab efforts commence. C.J. Gardner-Johnson went down with a torn pec in Week 2 and made it back in time for the Lions’ regular-season finale. Bills DT DaQuan Jones and Eagles cornerback Avonte Maddox also returned from September pec tears. Ragnow, who has missed extended time in just one of his previous six NFL seasons, may be shut down for a while, but given that this is a partial tear, his recovery timetable may not be nearly as lengthy as the above-referenced trio’s from 2023.
Attached to the lucrative extension he signed in 2021, Ragnow missed most of that season — a 3-13-1 campaign that began this Campbell- and Brad Holmes-overseen rebuild effort — due to a toe injury. Ragnow played four games in 2021 but was on the field for 16 games in 2022 and 15 last season. Both those showings produced Pro Bowl nods for the former first-round pick.
A second-team All-Pro twice (as Jason Kelce gobbled up first-team honors for an extended period), Ragnow has started all 83 NFL games he has played. The former No. 20 overall pick is one of two Bob Quinn-era investments in place on a well-built O-line, joining left tackle Taylor Decker. The Lions used Evan Brown as Ragnow’s primary replacement in 2021; Brown left in free agency last year. Ragnow, 28, did not miss a snap against the Cardinals, who now employ Brown.
Detroit brought back Graham Glasgow in 2023 and re-signed the veteran guard this year. Glasgow has a background at center, having played there for the Broncos in 2022 and with the Lions in Ragnow’s 2018 rookie year; the latter worked at left guard to start his NFL run. Dan Skipper, who saw time as a sixth O-lineman against Arizona, has played guard at points in his career; he and Glasgow give the team options. The Lions also have former UDFAs Michael Niese and Kayode Awosika as backup interior O-linemen on their 53-man roster. Awosika has been with the team since 2022, Niese since 2023.
Unfortunately, the Lions offensive line can’t stay on the field as a group. They always look great on paper.
Paper Lion? Sounds like a promising book title…although the focus should probably be on the QB position rather than the OL 🙂
Death, taxes and a Ragnow injury.