The Detroit Lions eked out a close win over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, but they came out of that game with some real injury concerns on both sides of the ball.
Center Frank Ragnow went down early in the game with a knee injury and didn’t wind up coming back. The Lions were initially concerned Ragnow had a serious injury, but felt a little more optimistic afterwards. Ragnow had tests done on Monday and this is what Lions head coach Dan Campbell had to say.
“More than anything we got good news, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be available this week.”
If Ragnow can’t go, the Lions will have to slide Graham Glasgow over to center and more than likely go with Colby Sorsdal or maybe even Michael Schofield at right guard. Missing Ragnow is a real issue though. He’s the anchor of that offensive line.
Another concerning revelation is Alim McNeill. He collided knees with Aidan Hutchinson on Sunday and while he played the rest of the game, he’s feeling it on Monday.
“Mac’s a little banged up. We’ll know more on him in probably a couple of days.” Campbell said. “There’s a chance he might not be up either.”
If McNeill can’t go, it could open the door for Brodric Martin to get some early opportunity. We talked on Monday about how he’s a project, but this could be a chance for him to show what he’s got at this point.
The good news is that Campbell says he thinks there’s a chance that linebacker Alex Anzalone could be back for the Lions this week after missing last week with both a hand injury and the birth of his new child. We’ll see where that goes on Wednesday.
Ultimately we’ll see where all of this goes on Wednesday when the Lions have their first practice and injury report of the week.