Lions coach Dan Campbell told the perfect story about Frank Ragnow’s toughness.
We’ve gotten to a point in Frank Ragnow’s career where no one can question his toughness. He finished a game with a fractured throat. He’s played for two seasons with a nagging toe injury. And despite having a laundry list of injuries throughout his entire career, he’s played at least 14 games in all but one season.
But on Tuesday during a media appearance on local radio station 97.1 The Ticket, Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell told a story that may be better than all of the other examples of Ragnow’s toughness. Just over two weeks ago, Ragnow suffered a partially-torn pectoral injury—which, depending on the severity of the injury, could sideline a player for a month or two. But as Detroit prepared the following week to play the Seattle Seahawks, Ragnow made his best case to play to Campbell directly.
“This was last week, actually almost right before (the) Seattle (game). I’m walking down there to talk to our trainer, and somebody punches me against the wall, and I’m not even paying attention, because I’m looking at our trainer,” Campbell said. “And I keep walking in and I get punched again, and I realize it’s Frank and he’s trying to show me that his pec is great. So that’s his way of telling me, ‘Look how strong I am. It’s good. It’s healed.’”
It’s a perfect story, because I think we could all actually see Ragnow do this. We’ve become so accustomed to seeing him toss NFL defensive linemen every Sunday, so the image of him displacing a 6-foot-5 Campbell is picture perfect in my mind.
“This guy, he’s as throwback as they get,” Campbell said. “He will play through any injury and he will will himself to go.”
As for his availability this week, Ragnow practiced on Monday and Tuesday, and Campbell certainly seemed to suggest he’ll play against the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday.
“He’s in a good mindset, he’s ready, and he wants to go,” Campbell said.
