Lions-Falcons preseason game ends early after Morice Norris injury

Posted by Marc Raimondi | 6 hours ago | Sport | Views: 7


The preseason game between the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons at Mercedes-Benz Stadium was suspended in the fourth quarter Friday night after Lions safety Morice Norris was taken off the field in an ambulance with what appeared to be a head or neck injury.

Norris seemed to take an inadvertent knee to the head while attempting to make a tackle on a running play by Atlanta’s Nathan Carter with 14:50 to go. The Lions said he was transported to a local hospital for further evaluation.

“He’s breathing, he’s talking,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said to open his postgame news conference. “It’s good. He’s got some movement. Now, they’ll just run more tests.”

Norris was attended to for about 20 minutes on the field as players from both teams joined hands in unison. An ambulance drove out onto the field and Norris was loaded into it on a stretcher.

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 played was stopped.

Campbell said it was the coaches’ decision.

“Raheem Morris is the ultimate class act,” he said. “We agreed it wasn’t right to complete that game.”

Lions quarterback Kyle Allen said he was praying for Norris, adding, “It’s a terrible game sometimes.”

“I don’t think anyone on that sideline wanted to play,” Allen said. “We weren’t part of that decision, but you could just look in everyone’s eyes and see it wasn’t worth it.”

Falcons wide receiver Casey Washington said it was clear that he and his Atlanta teammates didn’t want to carry on with the rest of the exhibition, either.

“That’s somebody’s life and that’s bigger than football,” Washington said.

Norris, 24, originally joined the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2024 out of Fresno State. He spent time on Detroit’s practice squad before joining the active roster last season. He was re-signed to the squad in January after appearing in two games last year.

Campbell said Norris’ mother Francina Pleasant is with him in the hospital.

“It’s an eye-opener. It hits a little different,” Campbell said. “It puts things in perspective. And I’ll tell you what, man, it’s a violent game and we love it. And when something like this happens, the silver lining is man, the brotherhood. I mean, to see all those guys from that team, our team kind of come together and everybody’s thinking about another player just means a lot.”

Morris said he spoke with his players after the game about what happened.

“You look in their eyes and you saw it and you get an opportunity to address the team and talk about your prayers and your thoughts for Mo and his family,” the Falcons coach said. “And you talk about [the players] and their families and their well-being and all the things that we’ve been a part of together. It was pretty simple to talk about those things with those guys.”

ESPN’s Eric Woodyard and The Associated Press contributed to this report.



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