Lions center Ragnow played through a fractured throat against Packers
The injury does not even sound real. And the fact he played the entire game despite it is mind-boggling.
Lions center Frank Ragnow missed practice Wednesday with a fractured throat he suffered in the first quarter of last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Ragnow played all 68 offensive snaps against the Packers, but his status for this week’s game against the Tennessee Titans — plus the Lions’ final two games — is uncertain.
“For most of the game, the dude couldn’t talk,” Lions quarterback Chase Daniel said. “And when I came up, he’s like (whispering), ‘Hi, I can’t talk. You got to make the calls.’ I was like, ‘All right, I’ll do it.’ It was funny at the time, it’s not funny now cause it’s a serious injury. And the dude played the rest of the game and I don’t know if he gave up a quarterback hit. It’s impressive, it really is.”
The Lions have been in contact with three specialists to determine their next course of action, a person familiar with the diagnosis told the Free Press. Ragnow’s airway is unobstructed and he is able to eat, but he is not supposed to talk or otherwise strain his throat.
A fractured throat cartilage is extremely rare, according to the Ochsner Journal, a New Orleans-based medical journal, and is typically the result of blunt force trauma.
Indianapolis Colts defensive tackle Henry Anderson suffered a similar injury in 2017 that kept him out of seven games.
Anderson was hurt when he was hit in the front of his neck by a running back, and eventually required season-ending surgery.
Daniel said Ragnow suffered his injury on the Lions’ first or second offensive series. With Ragnow unable to talk, guards Jonah Jackson and Oday Aboushi helped with run calls, and Daniel and Matthew Stafford made all checks in the passing game.
“He came up to me early in the game and was very hoarse and kind of faint sounding and was like, ‘I can’t really talk right now. I can’t really talk, just to let you know. Just make sure you’re communicating with everybody up front even more so than (you) normally would,’” Stafford said. “So it was kind of crazy, but it was good. Didn’t have any communication issues the rest of the game, really.”
In his third NFL season, Ragnow has played at a Pro Bowl level this fall. He and left tackle Taylor Decker are the only Lions to play every offensive snap this season.
“He’s grown as a player every way, as a player on the field, a player off the field, and he’s fun to coach and the biggest thing for him is being a leader, excelling that way,” offensive line coach Hank Fraley said earlier this month. “He’s coachable and he’s willing to be coached and he’s always trying to strive to be the best. I just enjoy the energy he brings every day on that field and he’s going to be a heck of a ball player for a long time in this league and he still hasn’t touched his ceiling.”
If Ragnow cannot play Sunday, either Joe Dahl or rookie Jonah Jackson would start at center.
The Lions played last week without starting right tackle Tyrell Crosby because of an ankle injury, and Crosby sat out practice Wednesday.
Halapoulivaati Vaitai, who has spent the past three weeks on injured reserve with a foot injury, returned to practice Wednesday and could be elevated to the 53-man roster this weekend.