The No. 1 priority of teams during the NFL preseason is to stay healthy, but as we have seen all over the league this year, that is easier said than done. During Friday night’s loss to the Buffalo Bills, the Detroit Lions saw two players go down with what could be major injuries.
Jarrad Davis
On the second snap, the Mike linebacker went down after getting his ankle rolled on, suffering what appeared to be a significant injury.
NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that Davis will get an MRI tomorrow on his injured ankle. If Dr. David Chao, a former NFL team doctor, is right and it’s a high ankle sprain, Davis will miss a fair amount of time.
Some of the other Lions starters were also banged up, including Jesse James — who came up limping in the second quarter after getting tangled up with a defender who also got hurt — as well as Rashaan Melvin and Christian Jones. All needed attention from trainers.
Each of the players above has capable backups who can step in and fill a role if needed, but the one place the Lions couldn’t afford an injury was on the offensive line.
Frank Ragnow
With 9:09 left in the second quarter, after an unexpected quick turnover and no time to get the second-team offense ready, the Lions sent out their starting offense once again, including Ragnow at center.
On a sweep left, Ragnow was shifting out of the wash and was rolled up on from behind, injuring his right ankle.
Ragnow’s injury looks equally as significant as Davis’, and the fallout could be very problematic for the Lions.
On the field, the team shifted Graham Glasgow back to center — a position he played for the last two seasons — and promoted Kenny Wiggins to right guard, where he played all of last season. Just like that, the starting guard battle between Joe Dahl and Wiggins could be over and the Lions may end up relying on both to start.
