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Frank Ragnow only Detroit Lions player picked for Pro Bowl: 'Playing out of his mind'
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- Frank Ragnow only Detroit Lions player picked for Pro Bowl: 'Playing out of his mind'
Hank Fraley rarely hears what type of pain his offensive linemen are playing through unless "one of those guys rats him out," Fraley said.
But the Detroit Lions offensive line coach has not needed a snitch to know what center Frank Ragnow has been dealing with most of the season, and that has made Ragnow's play this year all the more impressive.
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Ragnow, the Lions' fifth-year center, was named to his second Pro Bowl on Wednesday, the only Lions player selected to the NFC all-star team.
Lions center Frank Ragnow (77) gets ready to snap vs. the Patriots on Sunday, Oct. 9, 2022, in Foxborough, Mass.
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Ragnow suffered a turf toe-type injury in the Lions' season-opening loss to the Philadelphia Eagles and has been managing the injury most of the season. He missed one game, in Week 2 against the Washington Commanders , but has not missed a snap since.
The Lions (7-7) have won six of their past seven games to close in on an NFC wild-card berth, and Ragnow's contributions are a big reason why they have one of the most high-powered offenses in the NFL.
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"I couldn't find anybody more deserving (of making the Pro Bowl)," Lions left guard Jonah Jackson said. "He's the quarterback — not the quarterback, but he runs the ship, too. He knows just as much as Jared (Goff) does. It's big for him, big for us."
Ragnow has not allowed a sack this season, according to the Free Press' charting of plays. He makes most line calls for a unit that has the second-lowest sack percentage in the NFL. And he has been a key part of the Lions' short-yardage rushing success.
Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson said Wednesday that Ragnow is "playing out of his mind at center" and the unit as a whole has been "a security blanket for me right now in terms of being able to call this game."
"When you watch the tape every week, and Coach Fraley and I, we're both just amazed with what he's able to do right now, and honestly I think if you talk to him he feels like he's not even hitting his standard or his mark," Johnson said. "But it certainly doesn't go unnoticed. He's doing a phenomenal job. We put a ton on his plate that people don't realize from a mental aspect. There's a lot going on both getting the protection identified, but also in the run game because like I said we are so multiple. And he champions that, he loves coming in each week and getting all this stuff down."
Detroit Lions center Frank Ragnow (77) blocks for running back Justin Jackson (42) who is tackled by Buffalo Bills linebacker A.J. Klein (52) during first-half action at Ford Field on Thursday, Nov. 24, 2022.
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Ragnow was a Pro Bowl starter and second-team All-Pro in 2020 and signed a four-year, $54 million extension last spring that made him the highest-paid center in the NFL.
He missed most of last season with a torn plantar plate in his foot, and last month he acknowledged the frustration he has felt dealing with a similar injury this fall.
Ragnow joked in November he has become best friends with the Lions' medical staff while spending most of his downtime in the training room. The injury, Fraley said, has given Ragnow problems both anchoring and pushing off.
"I mean, I've been playing well, man, but I haven't been playing to my standard, which is frustrating," Ragnow said last month. "But I have to understand whatever I can do to help the team, and it definitely messes with your footwork. And the hardest thing is like the focus, cause it'll be play-to-play I am hurting. And I'm trying to focus on everything, and there's some things that usually don't get me, get me sometimes."
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Jackson, a Pro Bowl alternate after making the team last season, said Ragnow is "brilliant" when it comes to setting protections and called him "the role model you want to have in every locker room."
"He's the blueprint of coming in early, first one in the building, eating right. Lifting, staying in great shape. Playing ball. Outside the field with his charity," Jackson said. "He's like the whole nine. He's got it. He was raised right. Met his mother, you could tell they did it right so I'm very excited for him what it is."
Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com . Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Lions Frank Ragnow 'playing out of his mind' for Pro Bowl nod
