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Lions center Frank Ragnow played through fractured throat against Packers

Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow (77) didn't allow a sack or pressure during Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers. He played every snap following the throat injury. Photo by Mark Black/UPI
Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow (77) didn't allow a sack or pressure during Sunday's game against the Green Bay Packers. He played every snap following the throat injury. Photo by Mark Black/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow suffered a fractured throat and played through the injury during Sunday's loss to the Green Bay Packers.

Ragnow, who could barely talk during the game due to the ailment, injured his throat in the first quarter against the division rival Packers, but the former first-round pick remained in the game. Because of the injury, quarterbacks Matthew Stafford and Chase Daniel were forced to make the line calls for the rest of the contest.

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"It's pretty impressive what he was able to do," Daniel told reporters Wednesday. "It was the guards relaying the calls to the running backs, and obviously when I came in it was all passes, so that was easy for us to do as quarterbacks while I was making all the calls and relaying it.

"We didn't really seem to miss a beat, and it's pretty incredible when your throat is fractured and you're used to making all the calls."

League sources told ESPN and the Detroit Free Press that Ragnow's airway is fine, meaning his eating and breathing is unobstructed. The center, however, is not able to speak right now so the injury can heal.

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"Pretty crazy that he was able to finish the game with that," said Stafford, who injured his ribs during the matchup against the Packers.

Stafford told reporters he had never heard of someone experiencing an injury like that before, although former Indianapolis Colts defensive lineman Henry Anderson suffered a fractured larynx in 2017.

The National Institute of Health says "80 to 90% of laryngeal injuries, fracture/dislocations, and separation usually result from significant high-velocity blunt trauma." According to the organization, car accidents and sports are the most common causes, but "laryngeal trauma is rare."

Ragnow didn't allow a sack or pressure during Sunday's game against the Packers. He played every snap following the injury.

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