For a couple days there, "I think everybody was excited," said Taylor Decker, the Ohioan who might as well have been speaking for the state of Michigan. "Just because they know what kind of player he is. And lot of guys in this locker room who were here for any amount of time, who got to experience what he’s like on a day-to-day basis, he was a well-liked human and one of the best centers in the league."
But Frank Ragnow's return from retirement was short-lived. After his physical at the team facility last Friday revealed a Grade 3 hamstring strain that Ragnow was apparently just living with -- "His pain tolerance is pretty high," Jared Goff said Monday with a chuckle -- the Lions announced that Ragnow will not, in fact, be rejoining the team. He wouldn't have healed in time to help.
It was a boost that turned into a blow, on the backside of Detroit's brutal loss to the Packers on Thanksgiving. But in the Lions' locker room, the swing of emotions probably wasn't as extreme "as you would expect," said Decker, "because it's not like I was expecting him to just step in and play right away." In Decker's mind, Ragnow wouldn't have been ready until Week 14 against the Steelers, the third to last game of the season.
Graham Glasgow, Ragnow's replacement at center who would have bounced back to guard upon his return, had a similar perspective on the ordeal. While "it does suck" because "he's a good player who would have helped" Detroit's wounded offensive line, "I was pretty level-headed on both sides, to be honest," said Glasgow.
"He said he was coming back and I was thinking about the logistics of things, I’m like, well, he wouldn’t be ready to play right away, you probably need, like, two weeks to get into a position where he could play football, and then at that point in time there’s, like, three games left. So I was just thinking about it that way," Glasgow said. "I mean, it would have helped down the stretch. But would it have given immediate results? Probably not."
Decker and Glasgow are two of Ragnow's closest friends on the team, though Glasgow didn't know that Ragnow was even considering a return until Decker filled him in last Tuesday in the locker room, "and then Frank told me the same day that everybody else found out." On a personal level, both of them were bummed to miss out on a reunion with one of their favorite teammates.
They also have a critical game to prepare for Thursday night against the Cowboys, whose rebuilt defensive line has played a big role in the team's surge into the NFC playoff race. "So it’s not like I had much time to, like, stew on it," said Decker. The Lions will make or miss the playoffs with the pieces already in place.
"I love Frank," said Glasgow, "I would have been really happy to see him and really happy to have him around the building. But I mean, coaches always tell you, the only people that can really help you are in this building, and it’s kind of poetic in a way that that’s just how it works out, that the only people that can help you are yourselves. Just kind of pull yourself up and just f**king do your job, get it done."
Glasgow, who missed the Lions' loss to the Packers with a knee injury, said Sunday that he's feeling "pretty good" and that "I would play" Thursday night if the next few days go according to plan. He practiced Monday in a limited capacity.
"Everything’s fine," he said of his knee.
Things are not-so-fine for the Lions, who are 3-4 over the last two months, third in the division and 1.5 games out of the playoffs with five games to go. Anything less than a 4-1 finish will likely leave them on the outside looking in. Ragnow would have helped stabilize the offensive line, which has not played up to its standard this season, but perhaps not before it was too late.
His ill-fated return wasn't "as much of a roller coaster as maybe it seems on the outside," said Goff. "I was excited to get him back there for a couple days and then obviously it fell through with the physical stuff. But he’s doing well, I’m happy he’s happy and in a good place."
The Lions are in a tough place, an unfamiliar place under Campbell. It's up to the players on hand to fix it.