The Detroit Lions won't have the services of All-Pro center Frank Ragnow when they face the Seattle Seahawks on Monday Night Football at Ford Field.
Ragnow suffered a pectoral muscle injury in last week's win over the Arizona Cardinals and the Lions want to be smart with him.
"We're going to put Frank down this week," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Thursday. "So, I'll go ahead and get that out of the way. We're not going to mess with that. Look, Frank's as tough as nails. I think we have to be smart. It's early in the year and we have a lot of football left."
Ragnow missed two games last year – Week 8 vs. Las Vegas and Week 14 vs. Chicago – and the team moved guard Graham Glasgow to center and filled Glasgow's guard spot with a reserve. That's certainly one option the team will have for Monday's contest against a really good Seattle defense that ranks fourth in points allowed (14.3), second in total defense (248.7) and first in passing (132.3).
"The one thing we've been able to do here with Brad (Holmes) and Dan (Campbell) is they've built this thing with some depth," Lions assistant head coach and running backs coach Scottie Montgomery said Thursday. "Now we have guys that are going in who we can kind of shuffle and move from different positions that actually had real game time and that are working in protection meetings and have been working these protection meeting for two and even three years in some of those situations.
"It does present a challenge (not having Ragnow) but this is one of those situations where you know at some point in time throughout the year someone is going to be missing so Dan and Brad have done a good job making sure we're built to handle this thing for the long haul."
There was some good news on the injury front to start the week for the Lions. Defensive tackle Alim McNeill, who left the Cardinals game and did not return with a shoulder injury, was at the open portion of practice Thursday which is a good sign he's trending in the right direction with an extra day to get ready. Also good news was safety Brian Branch (neck) taking part in the open portion Thursday after he also left Sunday's game and did not return.
NEXT MAN UP
The Lions have lost veteran edge rusher Marcus Davenport for the rest of the season after he suffered an elbow injury in Arizona and was placed on Reserve/Injured. That's a big loss for a Lions' defense that was counting on Davenport to be a productive player opposite Aidan Hutchinson, which he proved to be the first few weeks of the season.
Now comes the task of filling that void. At least for the short term, that's expected to take place internally with players like Levi Onwuzurike, Josh Paschal, James Houston and others.
Onwuzurike has been really good to start the season with a couple half sacks, four quarterback hits, seven pressures and seven tackles. For a player like Paschal in his third season, this is a big opportunity to make his mark.
"This is going to be big for him," Lions head coach Dan Campbell said of Paschal this week. "He's going to take a load over there now – and he played an outstanding game, by the way. He was another one, I thought he played really well (Sunday), he was physical, continues to grow. So, we're going to need him to step up and I have all the faith in the world that he will."
The Lions will need Paschal to produce if they are going to keep double and triple teams away from Hutchinson on the other side.
"Very physical player," Lions veteran defensive tackle DJ Reader said of Paschal this week. "He's in a unique position where he's going to get a lot more opportunity and I think he's ready for it."
FAMILIAR FOES
Seattle and Detroit are set to meet for the fourth consecutive season. The teams have combined for at least 60 points in each of the three previous meetings for a total of 241 points.
The last two teams who combined for that many points in four consecutive games were New Orleans and Washington from 2009-18 (five straight games), and Indianapolis and New England from 2012-18 (four).
Lions quarterback Jared Goff and Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith have each passed for at least 300 yards in the previous two meetings. Smith and Goff can become the third pair of opposing quarterbacks to each pass for at least 300 yards in three consecutive meetings in NFL history, joining Tom Brady and Ryan Fitzpatrick (2011-12), and Drew Brees and Aaron Rodgers (2011-14).
EXTRA POINT
The Lions signed wide receiver Allen Robinson to the active roster from the practice squad on Thursday and signed linebacker Abraham Beauplan to the practice squad.
Robinson was elevated for the Cardinals game last week and played one snap. He played in every game for the Steelers last season and had 34 catches for 280 yards in the regular season. He also had two catches for 12 yards in their playoff loss to the Bills.
