Lions Pro- Bowl Centre Frank Ragnow hurt his knee during Sunday’s exciting 33-28 victory over the Detroit Lions in New Orleans. The squad will have to wait till tomorrow to find out how serious the injury is.
In the second quarter, Ragnow left the game after becoming tangled up in DeAndre Montgomery’s three-yard run. Ragnow hobbled off the pitch and needed help from the coaches. A cart wheeled him straight to the locker room, where he never came back.
After the game, head coach Dan Campbell made the following statement: “We won’t know until tomorrow.” After the facts, it felt a little different, possibly even more optimistic, than it had at first.”
Although Campbell said they had heard some more encouraging news about Ragnow, the Lions would suffer a great loss if he were to stay out of the game for any length of time. As the unit’s leader, Ragnow has performed admirably in the run game, missed only one snap entire season, and surrendered just two quarterback hits.
Graham Glasgow, a right guard, was switched to centre by the Lions when Ragnow departed the game. While offering a strong backup, rookie Kolbi Sorensen also filled in, with varying degrees of success.
Irvin Impact
Lions defensive lineman Bruce Irvin became the second-oldest player in franchise history to record a sack at the age of thirty-six years and thirty-two days. Cornerback Otis Smith, who accomplished the feat in 2003 at the age of 38 years and 67 days, is the oldest.
Irvin made an impression on Sunday against Detroit, helping to terminate the Saints’ third drive and force a punt by contributing to one of the two sacks in the third-down scenario.
“It felt like he was able to create pressure on the quarterback,” Campbell said, praising Irvin. He was able to obtain an advantage multiple times. There is undoubtedly something there. Something’s with him. Since he started working, he has improved his situation during the past three weeks. I can’t wait to watch the entire affair (on tape), just like you people did from afar. I know it’s thrilling.”
On Sunday, the Lions clinched the 26th position in the NFL in terms of sacks.
Williams Touchdown
They have been honing Jameis Williams’ double-reverse play for the past few weeks, according to Jared Goff. As a result, Williams made some minor adjustments here and there as he scored a critical 19-yard touchdown on Sunday. Ben Johnson, the offensive coordinator, called it just the right moment this week, and Goff’s blocking made it look flawless.
Williams was swerving the ball from left to right, and it was amazing to watch how fast he could speed to move the ball forward. A magnificent exclamation point was achieved by placing the cherry on top in the end zone.
Johnson was commended by Campbell, who said, “Ben’s call was great. Something that has been fermenting for a while in the lab. It seemed like the appropriate moment to give it a call. He did it really good, you know, man. It was a cleverly camouflaged object. It was a terrific job keeping an eye on him. He had to handle the rest. On the sidelines, he’s pure petrol. An amazing play.
Williams is becoming more and more confident as he advances within the coaching staff and the Lions keep looking for innovative methods to include him in football.
Bonus Point
The Lions have two players in the same season with over 600 rushing yards and more than five rushing touchdowns: Montgomery and Ja’Meer Gibbs. This is the first such combination since 1936 (Dutch Clark and Ace Gutowsky).
