Getty Trey Flowers chases Dak Prescott.
The Detroit Lions had a tough afternoon on the field against the Dallas Cowboys, and the team also took a beating on the injury report for yet another week.
Late in the game, the Lions lost both defensive end Trey Flowers and offensive lineman Frank Ragnow to injuries. Each player limped off and looked to be in serious pain. After the game, each player was also revealed to have the same ailments in terms of concussions.
Matt Patricia confirmed after the game that each player was in the protocol, meaning both are being examined for potential concussions. That’s rough news on two key spots of both lines.
Trey Flowers’ Season With Detroit
The Lions signed Flowers this offseason, and he got off to a slow start rushing the passer so much so that he had to be called out by pundits near the middle of the season.
A few weeks ago, Flowers had plays which helped push the New York Giants back and thwart scoring opportunities they had late, and it was finally a case of Flowers stepping up big in a significant spot for his new team. NFL analyst Brian Baldinger took notice, and thinks more plays like this are the key to the Lions turning things around this season.
“They signed him to make plays like this. The Lions have been terrible in the fourth quarter this year, everybody knows that. But they’re 3-3-1 with two games on the road, at Oakland and at Chicago. If they’re going to get back in the race, they need more plays like this from Trey Flowers,” Baldinger says while breaking down the game saving defensive play.
Safe to say Detroit doesn’t win without the key sequence from Flowers, and getting more of those plays figures to be a goal well into the future.
As Baldinger accurately stated, Detroit’s defensive line needs to do more work like this in crunch time. The good news? Flowers might just be getting started in terms of making a large impact down the stretch.
“He’s more than capable of doing it. They brought him here to do that. Trey Flowers is more than capable. Dishing Nate Solder, forcing the fumble, he’s got a lot of bounce in his step. More from Trey Flowers and that whole defensive front. They could get it,” he said.
As a whole, Detroit’s line has been dinged up and has been feeling the pain. Da’Shawn Hand, Mike Daniels and Damon Harrison have all been dinged up or victims of inconsistent play thus far. Romeo Okwara hasn’t made the same plays he did a year ago. All of that has helped the Lions have some of their biggest defensive issues thus far this season.
Flowers has answered the bell and played well in recent weeks with 5 sacks thus far this season, and would be a huge loss for a Detroit defense which doesn’t get after the pocket well at all.
Frank Ragnow’s Importance to Lions
Ragnow was Detroit’s first round pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, and has been a force at center for the team this season. In his rookie year, Ragnow played guard, but since transitioning to center, he has been very solid this season and has been an anchor for the team’s line in terms of getting plays off and clearing space on the ground.
Without Ragnow, the team would likely have to move Graham Glasgow over to center. Considering his work there, it’s not a tough transition, but it would be hard for the Lions to withstand given how well Ragnow has played.
This week, it will be important to watch and see where both these key Lions players are in terms of the injury report.
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