Frank Ragnow was a late addition to the list of Detroit Lions' players who were injured in Week 3 against the Arizona Cardinals, with a report he had suffered a partially torn pec coming over 24 hours after the game ended.
Despite his expected push to play in Week 4 against the Seattle Seahawks, Ragnow was ruled out by head coach Dan Campbell on Thursday.
"We're gonna put Frank down this week, so I'll go ahead and get that out of the way," Campbell said. "We can go round and round if we want, we're not even gonna mess with that. Frank's tough, I mean, he's tough as nails. If anyone can play through that it's him. I think we've got to be smart. It's early in the year, we've got a lot of football left."
In terms of any more games the three-time Pro Bowler might miss, a Week 5 bye seems to be coming at a good time.
Is an IR stint on the table for Lions center Frank Ragnow?
During his press conference on Saturday, Campbell was asked if an IR stint is possible for Ragnow.
“I don’t feel that way, I really don’t,” Campbell said. “Frank heals up really quickly, normally. He does, he heals pretty quick. He’s already starting to feel a lot better. So, I don’t feel that way, but we’re still early here.”
Pectoral tears have different grades of severity and recovery times, so the report that Ragnow's is "only" partially torn is important to note. There is no indication he is done for the season, and Campbell sentiment on Saturday (even with the acknowledged caveat of being early in the injury evaluation process) suggests he won't have to miss the next four games.
Of course the situation with safety Ifeatu Melifonwu, which Campbell updated on Saturday with there being no clear picture regarding when he'll be able to play as he heads for a fourth straight missed game, suggests a miscalculation by the Lions with a significant injury and an IR stint.
That being said, Ragnow is uniquely tough with a long list of injuries he has played through. So if anyone is going to defy a general timeline on a significant injury it's him, and that's what Campbell tapped into by setting aside the idea of an IR stint.