ATLANTA -- Dan Campbell said injured Detroit Lions defensive back Morice Norris is breathing, talking and has movement in his extremities at the hospital.
Norris was injured on the first play of the fourth quarter when he took a knee to the facemask while attempting to make a tackle. The second-year defensive back was down on the field for about 20 minutes before medical personnel took him to a local hospital for further evaluation via ambulance.
“Morice Norris is in stable condition and has feeling and movement in all his extremities,” the Lions said in their latest update. “He will remain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta overnight for observation.”
The preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons was suspended after play looked like it was about to resume. But Falcons quarterback Emory Jones snapped the ball and both teams stood at the line of scrimmage, not engaging in play as the clock continued to run to 6:31 left on the clock.
This was after players from both teams, those on the field and the sideline, took a knee as Norris was down. The Lions and Falcons shared a moment where it appeared they prayed together in locked arms before letting the clock run, leading to the game being suspended by officials.
When asked what went into the decision to suspend the game, with the Lions leading 17-10, Campbell cut the question off and said, “(Falcons head coach) Raheem Morris is a class act.”
“Raheem Morris is a class act,” Campbell repeated in his post-game press conference. “He’s the ultimate class act. We agreed that it just didn’t feel right to finish that game. That man is a class act (and) always has been.
“I’m going to pray for him, because at that point, we didn’t have much. He was breathing. I shared that (with the team) and said, ‘Please, pray for him.’ I told them, ‘We’re taking knees. We’re going to take knees for the rest of the game. They are (the Falcons) and we are until this thing is over.’”
Campbell asked everyone to pray for Norris as the team awaits more news. The Lions head coach said they are running more tests at the hospital, and that moments like this put everything into perspective.
“We’ve got some guys who have taken Mo under their wing. Kerby (Joseph) and (Brian) Branch and those guys,” Campbell said. “He’s like a little brother to them. He’s somebody that wants to be part of that group, comes in and works hard. Year two, looking for the growth, and the kid just wants to get better every day. I don’t even know what else to say, to be honest with you.
“We’ll have, obviously, some members that are going to stay back (at the hospital). We have some players that I know want to see him. I know his mom is with him, which is awesome. It’s good to hear.”
The Lions did not hold an open locker room after the game was suspended. Lions quarterback Kyle Allen addressed reporters after Campbell left the stage, though, and did his best to put everything into perspective.
“It’s terrible. It’s a terrible game sometimes that we play, to see something like that happen,” Allen said. “You don’t wish that upon anyone. It’s the risk of football, going out there and laying your body on the line. But you don’t sign up for stuff like that. It’s terrible. Everyone is praying for Mo. From what we’ve heard, it’s positive things from how bad it was on the field. It’s just terrible. You don’t wish that upon anybody.
“I think anyone that puts their body on the line on the field understands what they are doing. They understand the gravity of it. At the end of the day, we’re all football players, we got 32 different teams, but we’ve all played football our whole lives, had our own injuries, and been through it. I think people who, when you’re on that field and you see that -- You understand how dangerous it really is out there.”
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