A news bombshell dropped late Monday with the report of a Frank Ragnow pectoral injury suffered sometime during the Cardinals game on September 22, 2024. Ragnow played 100% of snaps without apparent issue, which made the news a surprise.
Sources: #Lions Pro Bowl and All-Pro center Frank Ragnow suffered a partially torn pec, making him week-to-week. A brutal reality for one of the NFL’s toughest players, who injured it very early in the game. But the belief is it’s not season-ending and he could be back soon. pic.twitter.com/B8gk1KBk24
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 24, 2024
It was déjà vu for Lions fans as after game two of last year, CJ Gardner-Johnson surprise news dropped that he had torn his pec despite playing the entire game.
CJ Gardner-Johnson R pec tear injury video
-Hurt early 1qtr, still finished game
-Pec tears are usually season-enders. Hope for the best.#Lions #OnePride https://t.co/vlL91vbtjf pic.twitter.com/BooNLRzqgi— Jimmy Liao MD | Detroit Lions Morning Rounds (@JimmyLiaoMD) September 19, 2023
CJGJ ended up having surgery and missed 16 weeks. Fortunately, the pec injury and prognosis this year for Ragnow seems much more favorable.
Here’s what we know
Ragnow has a partial tear which means a grade 1 or 2 strain. The words tear and strain are synonymous medically, so the injury can also be called a pec strain.
While use of the word “tear” is terrifying albeit accurate, it isn’t a complete tear (grade 3) which would be a much bigger problem along the lines of CJGJ’s 16 week recovery.
Calling it week-to-week strongly suggests that surgery is not under consideration and the pec should heal well on its own.
Here’s what we don’t know
We don’t know the severity or location of the pec strain. Severity matters as it affects the healing time. A partial tear could technically be just a mild strain which might not be a big deal at all.
Location also matters, as complete tears of the pec almost always involve the tendon as opposed to the muscle body. Hopefully, Ragnow’s partial tear is not between the muscle-tendon junction and the tendon insertion point into the humerus, as those locations put him at risk for a complete tendon rupture.
OUTLOOK
A retrospective study (Sahota et al) done in 2020 of NFL players found 132 pec strains (grade 1 or 2) from 2000-2014. The average return-to-play for these players was 28 days. There was huge variability in return time but it gives a general idea of what to expect. Of note, ten of those players had surgery and missed significantly more time than those who did not have surgery. Ragnow presumably will not be having surgery.
Anecdotal data for non-surgical pec tears finds that Marcus Williams (2023) returned in four weeks and TJ Watt (2022) returned in nine weeks (the last week was a bye so he might have been ready at eight). TJ Watt reportedly did not tear the tendon.
#Steelers LB TJ Watt suffered a torn pec muscle, but did not tear the tendon. That’s why, as he says, he’ll be back. It’s about six weeks of rehab, then Watt could be able to return — with no surgery. https://t.co/PJtnwu0bTS
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) September 13, 2022
As you can see, without knowledge of MRI results or other details, there is a wide range of when Ragnow might return.
I’m expecting him to miss the upcoming Monday night game vs the Seahawks, but a return after the bye for Week 6 vs the Cowboys is possible. Even with a longer recovery, he should be back in plenty of time for the stretch run and into the playoffs.
