Tag: Frank Ragnow

Five things to watch as Lions open against Eagles; plus prediction

Results of all the work in training camp and the offseason will come into focus for the 2022 season when the Lions open against the Philadelphia Eagles at 1 p.m. on Sunday at a sold-out Ford Field.

Coming off a 3-13-1 season, expectations are mostly high. That was fed by the Lions’ star treatment on HBO’s “Hard Knocks.” Still, coach Dan Campbell doesn’t think that adds more pressure. The team has picked up fans from around the country. The top selling Lions jerseys are Aidan Hutchinson and Malcolm Rodriguez who both turned out to be stars on the show.

“I know that it’s going to be a packed house, and I mean you couldn’t ask for anything more when you’re opening up the season. Us being at home, man, it’s the first one, and it’s going to be electric. And this is what we talked about,’’ said Campbell entering his second season. “Man, when I came in last year, that’s where we want to get it to a point to where, man the fans are excited, and they’ve got some hope, and now it’s our job to keep them in it, and keep them excited, and to know that we’re in there, and we’re in it. At the end of the game, we find a way to win. So, no, look – the ‘Hard Knocks’ deal, it doesn’t change any of our expectations in this building about who we are, where we’re at, where we need to go. That’s not for us to decide. All we’ve got to do is worry about what we worry about every day, man.’’

Campbell and his staff aren’t into predictions. No one has mentioned the ‘P’ word even if they’re thinking it. Instead it’s the old one day at a time philosophy. Campbell said he had talked with Lions principal owner Sheila Ford Hamp. 

“I said, ‘You know what, here’s where we’re at. We’re better. We’re better than we were this time last year, and that’s where it is.’ Now, what does that mean? It means we’re better than we were this time last year. I don’t know what that equates into, I just know we’re better. So, look, ‘Hard Knocks’ can make anyone look good, so I mean, that’s what TV does. They can make anything look good. They’re going to pull the best of the best, and so that’s not reality,’’ Campbell said. “Reality is what we’re getting ready to do, and what we’ve been doing every day in practice and all the reps we’ve banked, and these guys playing together, communicating, and that’s reality. That’s all we can worry about is how we see it in this building and go to work.”

Five things to watch for on Sunday:

ONE Jared Goff is a different quarterback heading into this season and he’s working under a new offensive coordinator in Ben Johnbson. Goff said the transition has been smooth and, in fact, better than he could imagine. “The trust he has in me, and the amount of questions he asks me, and vice versa, the amount of questions I can ask him. And his responsiveness, and how great he is at listening, all that stuff is so helpful for a quarterback and I don’t take it for granted,’’ Goff said. “He’s a great coach and someone I’m excited to work with.”

TWO Defensively, shutting down quarterback Jalen Hurts is key. His mobility sets him apart from many in the NFL. “Here’s the thing you have to be careful with when you’re playing a player like that. Sometimes you can overcoach a player to be so careful that you’re not getting a rush,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “Obviously rushing is important but most important I’m not going to sit back and tell Charles (Harris) and Aidan (Hutchinson) to sit back, man we’re going after this guy and we have to have other guys play off him also. Do we want to be reckless? No, we don’t want to do that. We have to be assignment sound and play hard, physical football.’’ Last season in the Eagles 44-6 win over the Lions, Hurts rushed for 71 yards on 7 carries and was 9 of 14 for 103 yards passing. 

THREE One of the Eagles’ keys on defense is cornerback Darius Slay who got his start in the NFL with the Lions. He’s 31 but still effective. “I think that when you have ability and as you continue to develop through the years you still have plenty of ability, but you just gain knowledge of the game and how you play different receivers, what you can get away with and what you can’t, that’s where you’ve seen him grow,’’ Campbell said. “That’s why he’s still playing at a high level. … He knows exactly who he is and what he’s capable of. … I know they feel good about him over there and I understand why.’’

FOUR Entering his second season, Campbell is amped up. His intensity was visibly higher this week starting with Monday’s press conference. He said it’s hard to say just one thing that makes him excited for the season to start. “ I’m just most excited now that it’s – that now we’re in the arena. There’s no more standing outside waiting for the gates to open, man. We’re going in, and so now there’s nowhere to run,’’ Campbell said. “There’s nowhere to hide. It’s just us. And the heat’s on, and if you don’t love that, you don’t belong up here. So, I’m most excited about that, and I’m most excited about just I think – I do believe we have a gritty group, and I think we’re tough, and I think we’re physical, and we’ve got to play with our hair on fire. And I think we will, so I’m excited about that.”

FIVE The Lions start the season with a banged-up offensive line. The big loss is right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai who injured his back, was placed on injured reserve and will miss at least the first four games of the season. Tommy Kraemer, who could have stepped in at right guard, is out with a back injury according to Friday’s report. He didn’t practice this week. Center Frank Ragnow (groin) is questionable to play. He had limited practice on Friday after sitting out on Thursday. Campbell and offensive line coach Hank Fraley moved the linemen around during camp so they should have multiple options. Also, defensive lineman Levi Onwuzurike (back) is out while safety Ifeatu Melifonwu (hamstring) is doubtful. Linebacker Julian Okwara (hamstring) is also questionable.

PREDICTION: Eagles 28, Lions 21. Detroit is a better team than last year but Philadelphia will just prove to be too much.

Lions O-line potential sky-high, just ask D’Andre Swift

No doubt, months away from opening day the Lions offensive line has the potential to be one of the league’s best. 

Of course, there’s a big if. Unlike last season, can they stay healthy?

Lions running back D’Andre Swift said it crosses his mind at least once a day about what could happen next season if the offensive line remains healthy.

The line is set up so that GM Brad Holmes doesn’t need to draft an offensive lineman to make it work.

While all five “starters” O-line starters never played in one game last season, they are healthy and, of course, optimism radiates. It’s that time of year.

“I said it last year, I’m going to stand on it. I think we can be the best in the league, I know we can be the best in the league. We just have to come out to work everyday,’’ left guard Jonah Jackson said.

Projected starters from last year will all return with left tackle Taylor Decker, left guard Jonah Jackson, center Frank Ragnow, right guard Halapoulivaati Vaitai and right tackle Penei Sewell (last year’s first-round draft pick).

Due to a slew of injuries they never played in one game together. Decker missed the first six games, Ragnow played in the first four and then hurt his foot and missed the rest of the season.

The good news is that Ragnow is back and participating in offseason workouts which started this week.

“I think being hurt, that was horrible. You just gain a lot of respect for dudes who have had to deal with injuries. It’s a gut-wrenching, man you really don’t realize. Obviously you’re still part of the team but you don’t really feel part of the team,’’ Ragnow said on Thursday.

“When you’re out on the field on Sundays and you’re in your gear, you’re like a gladiator. I’m walking out there in a T-shirt and shorts walking around, it’s a humbling feeling,’’ he added.

Sewell was one of last season’s highlights.He spent training camp at right tackle but when Decker went down before the first game he shifted to the left and did a respectable job.

“He looks the same. He’s a freak show. He’s still a freak show,’’ Ragnow said of Sewell. “Big, strong kid, great energy.”

Having the same guys return is huge.

“Obviously, we would love to all stay healthy, just off-the-field wise and mentally chemistry wise people don’t understand how big that is for offensive lines in particular,’’ Ragnow said. “You have to really know how these guys think, trust these guys and the relationships we’ve developed over five years with me and Taylor and the other guys trickling in here.’’

Five things to know as Lions face Vikings

It is Week 5 and the Lions are still looking for their first win. It’s been a bumpy start for first-year coach Dan Campbell who has his injury-decimated team showing flashes of good play but not nearly enough for a win.

Minnesota is typically a tough place to play but the Vikings (1-3) are coming off a 14-7 home loss to Cleveland. Still the Vikings are 10-point favorites.

A win would not fix everything for the Lions, but it certainly would help. 

“(A win) helps you get going. It helps you jump out of bed maybe a little bit better. And so, yeah, it does. That’s what this is about is getting that first win for us and getting a win. But at the end of the day, no matter what happens, you’ve got to put your best foot forward and we’ve got to go back to work no matter what,’’ Campbell said. “You’ve got to go back to work and find a way to improve. And you guys get tired of hearing me say this, but we are in a race to improve and it’s got to be that way every day, every week, every game.”

Five things to watch as the Lions face the Vikings:

1. Somehow going into Minnesota Campbell has been able to keep up the morale of this young squad.: “Morale’s been good. I mean, these guys did exactly what they needed to do was, ‘Let’s go back to work.’ And that’s a credit to the guys on this team, but I think even more importantly our veteran leadership. I think it’s all about – here’s what we know, you’ll never correct a problem if we don’t go back to work and those guys did that. That’s the first step and at least gives you a shot, so they have. It was up, the energy was up. We’ve had quite a few competitive periods. We try to mix them in every week, but I think we’ve had really more of them than we’ve done in a while just to – un-scouted looks, O versus D, critical fourth-and-2, third-and-2, red zone – we’ll have another red zone today and just dial it up and see who wins. And so, it’s been good. The energy’s been good and there again, it’s not about the energy, it’s about those little details that make you or break you in a game.”

2.  In terms of injuries, the good news is that tight end T.J. Hockenson (knee) and tackle Penei Sewell (ankle) have a chance to play on Sunday. Both had limited practice on Friday. DE Michael Brockers (shoulder) is expected to return. RB D’Andre Swift (groin), RB Jamaal Williams (hip) and OLB Trey Flowers (knee) are all listed as questionable. The Lions needed a pretty healthy team to have a chance at some wins and they definitely do not have that. Taylor Decker (hand) is still not ready and Romeo Okwara (Achilles) was the 12th player placed on injured reserve. Frank Ragnow was the 11th.

3. Much of the Vikings’ defensive game plan is built around their pass rush so it helps Minnesota that defensive end Danielle Hunter returns from injury. “Look, he’s an element that they need and I think he’s one of those pieces that makes them pretty dangerous because he’s one of those D-ends that I think plays the run as good as anybody and he’s an excellent pass rusher, too. So, he can transition from run to rush very quickly and run action stuff and he’s long. He’s a heck of an athlete, high motor, so it’s helped them,’’ Campbell said. This makes it much tougher on the Lions makeshift  offensive line which is missing Decker (hand) and Ragnow (turf toe). Good thing it looks like Sewell will be ready to go. Evan Brown will likely step in again at center.

4. So without key pieces, Campbell is putting together an offensive game plan that hopefully plays to their strengths.  “We’ve gone back and tried to really look at what we think we do well. We’re four weeks in now. ‘What do our guys do well? Knowing what we have up front moving forward and what they have, how do we help?’ So, the plan is catered that way somewhat and there again, we’ve got to play complementary football,’’ Campbell said. “We can’t get in one of these – like we’ve been, we can’t get in one of these, ‘We’re down and we’re in two-minute mode and we’re having to throw it every play and they know it, we know it.’ That doesn’t serve us well all of the time.” Actually, most of the time.

5. In the four losses, giving up chunk plays of 20 yards or longer has been a killer for Detroit’s defense. The cornerback crew is decimated with Jeff Okudah and Ifeatu Melifonwu on injured reserve, but the others have to step up. “That’s the one area that we’ve got to look at, and as coaches, too. ‘How do we get these guys in situations to where they’re not giving up these big plays?’ I was always told by Bill Parcells, ‘How many times do we’ve got to get hit in the face with a skunk before you smell it?’ And that’s a true statement,’’ Lions defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn said. “So, we have to do something also to be able to help these guys and we have done some things now, for the player and coach. The players have got to execute, the coach has got to put them in positions to where they can execute and be at their best.”  Sounds like a plan.

Prediction: Vikings 24, Lions 17.