Following a frightening injury to Detroit Lions safety Morice Norris Jr., the Lions-Atlanta Falcons preseason game Friday night was suspended.
Norris has feeling and movement in all his extremities, the Lions announced in a statement. The 24-year-old is in stable condition and will remain at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta overnight for observation.
“I’ll start off with this, obviously, thoughts and prayers are with Mo Norris," Lions head coach Dan Campbell told reporters after the game and prior to the team's aforementioned statement. "We got some positive information on him, that he’s at the hospital. I’ll just have to leave it at that, but when something like that happens, it puts things into perspective. So, we are just praying for Mo.”
Following his opening remarks, Campbell added that Norris was speaking and moving.
Play was officially suspended in the preseason game at 9:35 p.m. ET with 6:19 remaining in the game after an announcement from referee Shawn Hochuli. The Lions were leading, 17-10, at the conclusion of the game.
Norris suffered a scary hit to his head/neck area and was subsequently immobilized and loaded into an ambulance on the field.
Campbell huddled his team on the field and, thereafter, Lions and Falcons players gathered around the middle of the field. With 14:50 remaining in the fourth quarter, the players began to let the game clock run down until Hochuli's announcement.
Norris, a Fresno State product, was signed by the Lions in the spring of 2024 as an undrafted free agent. He played in two games last season and recorded three tackles on Friday night.