Friday night’s preseason game between the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons was brought to an early end after Lions defensive back Morice Norris suffered what appeared to be a serious injury. Norris, a second-year cornerback out of Fresno State, was taken off the field at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in an ambulance after appearing to be knocked unconscious while trying to make a tackle early in the fourth quarter.
The Lions provided positive news late Saturday night, saying Norris was in stable condition and had feeling and movement in all his extremities. Norris will remain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta overnight for observation.
On the play, Norris did not get up after attempting to make a tackle, and replay showed that his head appeared to snap back as it hit the leg of Falcons running back Nathan Carter. He received significant medical attention afterwards before finally being loaded into an ambulance, with the Lions’ broadcast crew reporting that Norris was blinking his eyes by the time he was taken off the field.
With respect to the severity of the injury to Norris, the Lions and the Falcons elected to just let the game clock run out. At some point, 22 players — 11 members of each squad — came out to the center of the field, stood in a circle and held hands for a few seconds. The Lions were leading 17-10 at the time.
Lions coach Dan Campbell offered a relatively positive update in post-game, saying that Norris is breathing, talking, and has some movement. Campbell also confirmed that the decision to stop the game was a mutual one between himself and Falcons coach Raheem Morris — Both teams stopped playing after Falcons quarterback Emory Jones took the snap and held onto the ball, running the clock out until the NFL suspended play for good with 6:31 remaining in the fourth quarter.
When asked if the NFL league office would be upset about both teams running out the clock, Morris told reporters with Atlanta that he was unsure and that the decision was made out of respect to Norris. “It’s not in my thoughts right now,” Morris said. “My thoughts are about Morice Norris and his family. That’s all.”
Norris, who signed with the Lions as an undrafted free agent in 2024, spent much of his first NFL season on the team’s practice squad before being promoted to the active roster late in the season. Norris is attempting to make the Lions’ initial 53-man roster for the first time.