The Detroit Lions did not receive any awards at NFL Honors on Thursday night, but they did get a big win. According to Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press, center Frank Ragbow left no doubt about his plans for the 2024 season.“I just need a few weeks to get healthy,” he said. “I guess my typical offseason routine is kind of get right back into it, but I think as I’m getting older I need to understand that sometimes maybe less is more. And I just need some time to make sure I’m healthy and then we’ll get rolling again.”
After the NFC Championship Game loss to the San Francisco 49ers, Ragnow was in a bit of a reflective mood when taking into account all the injuries he played through this season.
“I got to figure everything out,” Ragnow said. “We landed at 5 a.m. (after the 49ers game) and now I’m just trying to process everything and take a look at my body and my MRIs and figure everything out.”
“It takes a toll on you,” Ragnow said. “It really takes a toll on you, so I need to find a way to get back to Frank and I don’t regret any of this at all, but it weighs on you and I’m just going to take some time and really figure everything out to make sure that I’m feeling good, not only for me the football player but for me to be the best husband and best father and everything with that as well.”
Then, during his season-ending press conference this week, Lions general manager Brad Holmes didn’t exactly shut the door on the idea Ragnow could retire this offseason.
It never seemed plausible that Ragnow would retire this offseason, even with all the injuries he endured with this season—from a persistent toe issue to seemingly new ones every week—and the fact that he missed just one game following meniscus surgery. All he needed was a little room to gather his thoughts, and now he just needs some time to recuperate.
This offseason, the Lions will need to address several questions regarding their offensive line because their top three guards, Josh Jackson, Graham Glasgow, and Halapoulivaati Vaitai, are all set to become free agents. But there’s no longer any reason to worry that Ragnow would give up soon.
