Detroit Lions All-Pro center Frank Ragnow will likely to avoid a stint on injured reserve, according to coach Dan Campbell.
Following the Detroit Lions Week 3 win over the Arizona Cardinals, the Lions exited the game with a litany of injuries. One of the biggest concerns centered around All-Pro center Frank Ragnow, who had suffered a partial pectoral tear and was ruled out of the Lions Week 4 game early in the week.
While pectoral tears can have up to a six-month recovery window, the Lions believe that Ragnow not only escaped a season-ending prognosis but may also avoid being placed on injured reserve, meaning he is expected to return sometime in the next four weeks.
“I don’t feel that way, I really don’t,” coach Dan Campbell said of Ragnow possibly going on injured reserve. “Frank heals up really quickly, normally. He does, he heals pretty quick. He’s already starting to feel a lot better. So, I don’t feel that way, but we’re still early (in the evaluation process) here.”
Campbell did leave a caveat at the end of his statement, but his overall sentiment was very positive. Ragnow will not play in Week 4, and the Lions are on a bye in Week 5, so he will have another nine days of recovery time before we likely get another update on his status.
Ragnow has a long injury history, mostly centered around his inoperable foot injury, but he also suffered a concussion, knee, toe, ankle, groin, and throat injuries over his career, and he has played through most of them.
“Frank is stubborn,” Campbell told 97.1 The Ticket earlier this week. “He’s hard-headed Frank. He’s tough, he’s stubborn, and so he wants to go and he always wants to go.”
Things aren’t fully settled, but the news is optimistic that we could be seeing Ragnow on the field sooner than we would see most humans in his situation.