ALLEN PARK – The Detroit Lions received a bye week boost, opening the week of practice with all 53 players represented, even opening the practice window for rookie Christian Mahogany.
All-Pro center Frank Ragnow (pectoral) was back on the field, as were versatile defensive back Brian Branch (illness) and rookie cornerback Ennis Rakestraw Jr. (hamstring). Mahogany missed all of training camp and the preseason due to illness, so the team will see where the rookie offensive lineman is in his recovery. He is on the NFI list, so the Lions will have 21 days of practice to see how things progress and where the rookie stands after three weeks.
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Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Branch and Ragnow were active during the team’s first session back on the field Monday, adding they looked and felt good after the break .
Branch went through concussion protocol after the Arizona win, then had his status downgraded to questionable and missed the Seahawks game due to illness.
Ragnow suffered a partially torn pectoral muscle in Week 4, then missed the team’s Monday Night Football victory over the Seattle Seahawks. Campbell said Ragnow was stubborn and tried to play into the game before the bye, but they ultimately settled on Graham Glasgow at center and Kayode Awosika at open guard with the latter’s movement inside.
Getting these two players back for the big game against the Dallas Cowboys is a boost. The Cowboys are dealing with a handful of injuries on their defensive front, so a well-stocked Lions offensive line could be the recipe for success in Jerry World.
“The focus is always on improvement,” Campbell said Monday. “We have to improve. And it’s really about, “All right, we have to do this” – we did some things Monday night that were – that’s more what we’re looking for, and so now this is the field. How can we continue to play even better than this, how can we clean up some of the things that gave us trouble in this game? Not everything was perfect, and so I think you just keep striving that way and trying to be — you try to play a perfect game — of course, (Jared) Goff did.
“You try to coach it, you try to play it knowing it’s not going to happen, but that doesn’t mean you don’t try to do everything you can to play as perfect as possible. So we have things to clean up, and it really is, it’s about getting better, that’s what you have to do during the week.
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