NFL Preseason Game Cut Short After Scary Injury to Lions’ Morice Norris
A preseason football game between the Detroit Lions and Atlanta Falcons came to a sudden, emotional end Friday night after Lions safety Morice Norris went down with a serious injury.
Early in the second half, Norris was trying to tackle Falcons running back Nathan Carter when things took a turn. He hit Carter straight on — facemask first — and his head snapped back hard. Right away, everyone on the field knew it wasn’t a normal hit. Trainers rushed in, and within minutes, the ambulance was called.
It took about 20 tense minutes before Norris was carefully placed on a stretcher and taken to the hospital. The game, which Detroit was leading 17-10, just never got back to normal after that.
Eventually, with just over six minutes left on the clock, officials suspended the game entirely. Both coaches — Dan Campbell for the Lions and Raheem Morris for the Falcons — agreed: nobody’s heart was in it anymore.
“Morice Norris is in stable condition and has feeling and movement in all his extremities,” the Lions said in a statement. He stayed overnight at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta for observation, with his mom by his side.
After the hit, players from both teams just stood at the line, not even moving, as the clock ticked. Falcons QB Emory Jones took a snap, but it was clear nobody was playing football anymore. It wasn’t just a game at that point — it was about someone’s life.
“You just pray in that moment,” Lions QB Kyle Allen said. “We’ve all had injuries, but when you see the stretcher and that many people crowded around for that long? It hits different.”
Coach Campbell got emotional talking about Norris. “We’re just praying for Mo. That’s all we’re thinking about right now.”
Coach Morris backed the decision to end the game early, calling it “common courtesy” — and absolutely the right thing to do. “Nobody wants to see that kind of injury happen. Tough for their team, tough for ours, tough for everyone.”
If this feels familiar, it’s because this kind of decision isn’t totally unheard of anymore. Just last year, two preseason games were cut short after similar scary moments — one with Patriots CB Isaiah Bolden, and another with Dolphins WR Daewood Davis. Both were hospitalized and recovered, but it shook players and fans.
And of course, everyone still remembers when Damar Hamlin collapsed during a Monday Night Football game in 2023 — he went into cardiac arrest on the field. Thankfully, he made a remarkable comeback and returned to play the next season.
Friday night’s game wasn’t about wins or losses anymore. It was about real life, and the NFL world came together hoping that Morice Norris makes a full recovery.
Silence Falls Over Stadium as Lions’ Morice Norris Suffers Gruesome Injury
