Frank Ragnow is getting the silent treatment. Literally.
Detroit Lions interim coach Darrell Bevell said Ragnow was told not to talk Wednesday or Thursday as he recovers from the fractured throat cartilage he suffered in last week’s loss to the Green Bay Packers.
“They’re having him rest his voice, won’t be speaking really here,” Bevell said. “Yesterday, no words spoken. Today, no words spoken. He’s not supposed to talk through Friday, and then they’ll reevaluate it on Friday toward the end of the week.”
Ragnow was injured in the first quarter of last week’s loss, but stayed in the game despite being able to talk only in hushed tones.
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He was diagnosed with a fractured throat on Monday, and the Lions have been in contact with three specialists about his condition.
Asked if Ragnow risks doing more damage to his vocal cords by playing, Bevell said that’s what the Lions are leaning on the specialists to determine.
“I wish I could give you really good information, but I can tell you this,” Bevell said. “I know that we went from our people to the specialist, and the specialist will really guide us on that information and whether it’s safe for him to go back out in the game. I can tell you we’re not going to put him out there if it’s not safe. We don’t want long repercussions of this for him down the road, and I don’t think he would want that either. So, we’ll take the information that we get from the specialist and go with that.”
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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.
Even if he is cleared to play from a safety standpoint, Ragnow’s injury could present practical problems for the Lions.
Bevell said Ragnow is speaking through hand gestures and head nods currently, and using written communication to pass information about his commitment back and forth.
With Ragnow unable to speak against the Packers, the Lions used guards Jonah Jackson and Oday Aboushi to make line calls in the run game, and had quarterbacks Chase Daniel and Matthew Stafford make all the checks in pass protection.
“We definitely have to think about all that, all the contingency plans in case that happens,” Bevell said. “But I think right now it’s just important for us to wait till Friday to see how it progresses, where he’s going to be at. We really can’t make a statement on if he’s going to play or not. That’s going to be basically up to the medical professionals and the specialists to tell us if he can do that. We want to make sure that obviously we’re putting him out there in a safe environment, that he’s safe to be able to do that. So we’ll wait till Friday, and we’ll handle all that as it comes our way.”
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Stafford did not practice Thursday for the second straight day due to the rib injury he suffered against the Packers.
Bevell said there has been no talk of shutting Stafford down for the season, now or if the Lions (5-8) are eliminated from playoff contention, which they would be with a loss Sunday to the Tennessee Titans and a win by the Arizona Cardinals (7-6).
Like Ragnow, the Lions will not make a decision on Stafford’s availability until later in the week.
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.