Lions lose 4-time Pro Bowl C Frank Ragnow for year with hamstring strain after he ended retirement

Audio By Carbonatix

ALLEN PARK, Mich. (AP) — Frank Ragnow's season is over before it started.

The four-time Pro Bowl center failed a physical because of a hamstring strain, days after coming out of retirement, the team announced Saturday.

The Lions say Ragnow reported to the team's training facility on Friday and an exam showed he has an injury that will prevent him from playing this season.

“Frank has always been a team-first guy and is a true warrior," the team said in a statement Saturday. “He will forever be a Lion.”

The 29-year-old Ragnow was reinstated off the retirement list on Wednesday in a move welcomed by the Lions, who have missed him on the offensive line this year. His replacement, Graham Glasgow, was ruled out with a knee injury for the game against the Green Bay Packers on Thanksgiving, a game Detroit lost to hurt its chances of making the playoffs.

The Lions (7-5) host the Dallas Cowboys (6-5-1) on Thursday night.

Ragnow stepped away from the game last June.

Detroit drafted Ragnow No. 20 overall in 2018 and he endured multiple injuries during his career. In 2021, following a season in which he played with a fractured throat, general manager Brad Holmes made him the league’s highest-paid center at the time with a $54 million, four-year extension.

Ragnow earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2020, 2023 and 2024. He was selected to his first Pro Bowl in 2020 and made three straight from 2022-24.

___

AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/NFL