Detroit Lions captain has played with fractured ribs since season finale

ALLEN PARK — Add Alex Anzalone’s name to the list of warriors still fighting and pushing to keep this dream season for the Detroit Lions alive.

$Detroit Lions captain has played with fractured ribs since season finale - mlive.com$

The Detroit Free Press first reported earlier this week that Anzalone has been playing through three fractured ribs. When asked by MLive in the locker room about the injury on Wednesday, Anzalone said the injury happened in the season finale against the Minnesota Vikings. He’s also been playing through a lingering shoulder injury, and had a screw inserted into his hand after the Thanksgiving game.

And like his fellow warrior and teammate Frank Ragnow, Anzalone downplayed the situation ahead of this weekend’s NFC title game tilt on the road against the San Francisco 49ers.

“Yeah, I mean, the thing is that there are a lot of people fighting through a lot of different things at this point of the year. I think I did the math, it’s Week 21,” Anzalone said.

“Yeah, I do (know when it happened). It was in the Minnesota game. That’s all. I don’t know. Yeah.”

Anzalone has enjoyed the best season of his career this year. He’s continued to improve with each passing season in Detroit, with that growth reaching new heights in Year 3 with the Lions.

He set new career-high marks with 129 tackles, three sacks, 12 quarterback hits, 28 pressures, and matched his previous high of seven tackles for loss across 16 games. Through his seven-year career, these last three seasons have been the most Anzalone has played in terms of starting most of the games and as one of the main pieces in the middle of a defense.

The 49ers are a well-oiled machine through the air and on the ground. And they’ve been a perennial NFC contender for a reason, and Anzalone is well aware of how good they’ve been. But for the Lions, their defense has been much better down the stretch, bending but not breaking and being stout in the red zone.

“Just playing cleaner football, not a lot of mental errors, I think that’s really where we’ve improved the most,” Anzalone said. “We’ve kinda gone through a gauntlet of really good receivers and giving up some passing yards. But some of those games are a little skewed because we had leads and it turns into a passing game, and they’re in two-minute mode for the whole time

“It’s hard to look at the stats sometimes. But I feel like when we’re in critical situations, we’ve come up huge.”

Anzalone’s value as a leader on the field and in the locker room is hard to put into words for such a young roster. And the team captain knows this date against the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC title game is a special opportunity for this team and this starved fanbase. But Anzalone isn’t about to admit to being surprised they’re among the final four still going.

“For us players and I think for the coaches, too. It’s hard because I know there is a lot of excitement within the fanbase and out and about in the city,” Anzalone said. “For us, and for me personally, this is my third year here. A lot of people haven’t been with the Lions long, and I know there’s a lot of excitement behind winning these playoff games.

“But we expected to be here. And it’s not necessarily — We don’t consider it a Cinderella story.”