The Chicago Bears made it their policy from the beginning that they weren’t letting any of their key starters within sniffing distance of the field during this preseason. A lesson Matt Nagy learned last year when he lost Leonard Floyd and Adam Shaheen to long-term injuries. After very brief appearances in the opener against Carolina, nobody of note has played a single snap. The way things stand, the Detroit Lions probably wish they’d followed that example.
In the third preseason “tune-up” against the Miami Dolphins, the Bears’ division rival couldn’t have endured a worse result if they’d tried. Before the game had even ended they saw not one but two key players go down to potentially crucial injuries. The first was linebacker Jarrad Davis who appeared to suffer a right leg injury after getting rolled up on. He was seen in tears afterward. Never a good sign.
Not too long later, they were hit again. Center Frank Ragnow, their standout former 1st round pick last year, had to be carried to the sideline after suffering a right leg injury of his own. Losing two starters like that is bad enough, but those two players, in particular, could hurt the team badly.
Detroit Lions lost two players at vital positions
Davis might be a huge loss because of just how potentially weak the Lions at linebacker. Outside of him, they have Devon Kennard and Christian Jones as their starters. Not exactly a stacked lineup. This would force rookie 2nd round pick Jahlani Tavai into the starter spot at middle linebacker. He’s reportedly looked solid in camp but that is a huge void to fill. Especially for a rookie with his lack of experience.
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Ragnow’s loss is almost as bad. Their interior offensive line was already questionable, allowing nine sacks in 2018. With him out of the picture, it makes a questionable situation even worse with Leo Koloamatangi being the next man up unless the Lions shuffled somebody else to center such as Graham Glasgow. Either Matthew Stafford’s life could be about to get a lot harder. As if that wasn’t the case already.
