ALLEN PARK, Mich. – Detroit Lions quarterback Matthew Stafford is in contention for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, and center Frank Ragnow has been demoted.
Both players were injured during last weekend’s loss to the Green Bay Packers.
Stafford suffered a rib cartilage injury in the fourth quarter when he was hit by Kenny Clark and had to leave the game. He did not practice on Wednesday or Thursday and was not seen during the practice portion of Friday open to the press. He was listed as doing limited work.
Interim coach Darrell Bevell said the Lions will take Stafford’s injury by the end of the week and travel to Tennessee.
“It may or may not be a training situation,” Bevell said. “Obviously, the conversation about what he’s doing is a little Latin before we get this far. But if we need a workout on Sunday morning, then we’re going to do that too.”
Bevell said Stafford feels and moves better and it’s hard to judge what that means because of his toughness. Stafford said on Wednesday that for him, most of what he will play is whether he can throw and whether he believes his body will be able to cope with an entire game.
“I don’t want it to be one of those things where you go out there and do something weird early and you’re out after the first series of the game or something,” Stafford said. “Not to mention, take great success and who knows what might happen. But [I] I want to feel good enough to be able to start the game and hopefully be able to finish it as well. Play at a high level.
“All these things are things that need to be and we need to see if we can get there by the end of the week.”
Stafford said his diet to try to improve consisted of heat, ice, rest and exercise. He didn’t know, as of Wednesday, if he would need an extra liner or an extra wrap around his ribs if he were to play – although he joked, “he’s going to stick a pillow on my ribs or something.”
If Stafford can’t play, Chase Daniel would be expected to start.
Ragnow was told not to speak on Wednesday or Thursday to rest his vocal cords after suffering a contusion of the vocal cord as part of his fractured neck wound. He visited a specialist on Friday to receive an update.
He did not train on Friday and, although he was initially classified as doubtful for the game, the Lions later demoted him.
Ragnow was around the facility all week, either writing answers or having teammates and coaches asking him questions he could answer with a thumb up or a finger down or a nod or nod. . Ragnow’s ability to breathe or eat was not compromised by the injury.
“I know we went from our people to the specialist, and the specialist will really guide us on this information and whether it’s safe for him to come back into the game,” Bevell said before Ragnow was ruled out. “I can tell you that we will not put him there if he is not sure.
“We don’t want long-term repercussions on this and I don’t think he would want that either. So we’re going to take the information we get from the specialist and go with that.”
With Ragnow out of the game, it is possible for Jonah Jackson to slip to the center and Joe Dahl to enter the guard line – the position he played before losing his job in the middle of the season. Detroit could also play Dahl in the center if needed.
Debutant defensive attack John Penisini (shoulder) is questionable and four Lions players are out: straight attack Tyrell Crosby (ankle), defensive lineman Da’Shawn Hand (ankle), cornerback Darryl Roberts (hip) and wide receiver Kenny Golladay (hip).
Roberts’ injury continues Detroit’s problems in the corner, where only Amani Oruwariye and Justin Coleman remain healthy among the first five turns of the team.
Golladay is missing his seventh consecutive game with a hip flexor that has not healed as quickly as he had hoped. Speaking to reporters for the first time since he was injured, Golladay gave up the idea that his absence was related to his contract while heading to the free agency. He said the injury, which he described as a “muscle strain”, had changed, keeping him out for longer.
“I definitely want to be there on the field. Even when I went out there [for practice]”I sure thought I was ready or I wouldn’t have gone out there,” Golladay said. And yes, it was clearly not ready yet, to be honest.
“It sucks, really. But I mean, I have to be smart with my body.”