Detroit’s Morice Norris transported to hospital after serious injury in preseason game
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ATLANTA — The Detroit Lions said safety Morice Norris was in stable condition after he was attended to for about 20 minutes and taken off the field in an ambulance during the Lions’ preseason game Friday night against Atlanta, with the game ending with 6:31 to go after the players let the clock run.
Norris was hurt with 14:50 to go trying to tackle Atlanta running back Nathan Carter and was transported to Atlanta’s Grady Hospital.
“Morice Norris is in stable condition and has feeling and movement in all his extremities,” the Lions said in the statement. “He will remain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta overnight for observation. We would like to thank the Atlanta Falcons organization, the EMS team at Mercedes-Benz Stadium and the doctors and staff at Grady for their support.”
Lions coach Dan Campbell asked for prayers for the 24-year-old Norris.
“We’re just praying for Mo and ask that everybody prays for him,” Campbell said.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh plans to use Joe Alt as Justin Herbert’s blindside protector in the wake of Rashawn Slater’s season-ending injury.
Campbell said Norris had his mother with him at the hospital.
Norris, the former Fresno State player listed as Detroit’s second-team safety, hit Carter with his facemask facing the running back’s midsection, and the defender’s head snapped back after making the hit.
Lions quarterback Kyle Allen said it was immediately obvious the medical personnel saw this as a serious injury.
“Usually you see a couple trainers out there,” Allen said. “It’s never good when they bring out the stretchers. We just started praying for him and hoping for the best. When it’s taking that long, with that many people and that many trainers around him, you’re just hoping for the best.”
Added Allen: “It’s just awful. ... You sign up for football and you understand the risk, you understand the injury risk. You never think something like that is going to happen.
“At the end of the day we’re all out here as football players. We may be on 32 different teams but we’ve all played football our whole lives and had our own injuries and been through it.”
When play resumed, Falcons quarterback Emory Jones took a snap and then held the ball as players from both teams stood at the line of scrimmage and the clock continued to run. Finally, with 6:31 left, an official announced the game had been suspended “per New York.”
The Lions led 17-10 when play was stopped.
Campbell and Falcons coach Raheem Morris made the decision to not finish the game.
“Raheem Morris is a class act,” Campbell said. “He’s the ultimate class act. We agreed it just didn’t feel right to finish that game.”
Morris said it was “common courtesy” for the coaches to decide to not finish the game.
“It was tough to watch,” Morris said. “It was tough for the other team to see getting a teammate hurt that way. It was the right thing to do for Dan and his crew and his team and everything we had going on right there, I thought that was the right thing.
“You never like to see anybody get hurt in any type of game or any type of way. It was a tough deal for those guys, a tough deal for us, a tough deal all across the board.”
Allen said the decision to not finish the game was easy to make.
“I don’t think anyone on that sideline wanted to play,” Allen said. “We weren’t part of that decision but you could look in anyone’s eyes and see that.”
Odum writes for the Associated Press.
