DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Lions safety Morice Norris shared a social post Saturday, saying he's OK and thanking people for their support after he was taken off the field in an ambulance late in a preseason game against the Atlanta Falcons.
Norris reposted a screenshot about being grateful along with a Bible verse, adding a message of his own.
“Amen Amen,” he posted on his Instagram story.
“I'm all good man don't stress," he said, adding he appreciates all of the check-ins and support.
Norris was in stable condition late Friday night after he was attended to for about 20 minutes by medical personnel and taken to an Atlanta hospital.
The 24-year-old Norris was hurt with 14:50 left in the preseason game after hitting Falcons running back Nathan Carter. He hit Carter with his facemask facing the running back’s midsection and his head snapped back after assisting on the tackle.
When play resumed, Atlanta quarterback Emory Jones snapped the ball as players from both teams stood at the line of scrimmage as the clock continued to run.
“Usually you see a couple trainers out there,” Lions quarterback Kyle Allen said. “It’s never good when they bring out the stretchers."
With 6:31 remaining in the fourth quarter, an official announced the game had been suspended “per New York” with the Lions leading the Falcons 17-10.
Detroit coach Dan Campbell and Atlanta coach Raheem Morris made the decision to not finish the game.
“Raheem Morris is a class act,” Campbell said. “He’s the ultimate class act. We agreed it just didn’t feel right to finish that game.”
Norris, a former Fresno State standout, played in eight games last season after earning a spot on the team as an undrafted rookie.
NFL preseason games ended early in consecutive weeks two years ago.
New England’s game at Green Bay in Week 2 of the 2023 preseason was called off when Patriots cornerback Isaiah Bolden was carted off in the fourth quarter. Bolden appeared to collide with teammate Calvin Munson while attempting to make a hit on a pass completion to Malik Heath of the Packers. Bolden was taken to a hospital and released the next day.
A week later, a game between Miami and Jacksonville was not completed after Dolphins receiver Daewood Davis was carted off in the fourth quarter. Davis was hurt when he ran a slant route and was attempting to catch a pass when he was hit by Jaguars linebacker Dequan Jackson. Davis was released from the hospital a day later.
The two frightening injuries happened some eight months after Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest and had to be resuscitated on the field during a regular-season game at Cincinnati in January 2023. Hamlin has enjoyed a remarkable recovery and resumed football the following season and spent last year as a Bills starter.
“You sign up for football and you understand the risk, you understand the injury risk,” Allen said. “You never think something like that is going to happen. At the end of the day we’re all out here as football players. We may be on 32 different teams but we’ve all played football our whole lives and had our own injuries and been through it.”
AP Sports Writers Charles Odum and John Wawrow contributed.
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Detroit Lions safety Morice Norris (26) is hit in the helmet by Atlanta Falcons running back Nathan Carter (38) during the second half of an NFL preseason football game Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
Detroit Lions players stand on the field after safety Morice Norris was injured during the second half of an NFL preseason football game against the Atlanta Falcons Friday, Aug. 8, 2025, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)
COPENHAGEN, Denmark (AP) — A bipartisan U.S. congressional delegation on Saturday sought to reassure Denmark and Greenland of their support following President Donald Trump's threat to punish countries with tariffs if they don’t back the U.S. taking over the strategic Arctic island.
Delegation leader Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat, said the current rhetoric around Greenland is causing concern across the Danish kingdom. He said he wants to de-escalate the situation.
“I hope that the people of the Kingdom of Denmark do not abandon their faith in the American people,” Coons said in Copenhagen, adding that the U.S. has respect for Denmark and NATO “for all we’ve done together.”
Meanwhile, thousands of people marched through Copenhagen, many of them carrying Greenland’s flag, on Saturday afternoon in support of the self-governing island. Others held signs with slogans like “Make America Smart Again” and “Hands Off.” Another rally was planned in Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital,
Coons' comments contrasted with that emanating from the White House. Trump has sought to justify his calls for a U.S. takeover by repeatedly claiming that China and Russia have their own designs on Greenland, which holds vast untapped reserves of critical minerals. The White House hasn’t ruled out taking the territory by force.
“There are no current security threats to Greenland,” Coons said.
Trump for months has insisted that the U.S. should control Greenland, a semiautonomous territory of NATO ally Denmark, and said earlier this week that anything less than the Arctic island being in U.S. hands would be “unacceptable.”
During an unrelated event at the White House about rural health care, he recounted Friday how he had threatened European allies with tariffs on pharmaceuticals.
“I may do that for Greenland, too,” Trump said. “I may put a tariff on countries if they don’t go along with Greenland, because we need Greenland for national security. So I may do that,” he said.
He had not previously mentioned using tariffs to try to force the issue.
Earlier this week, the foreign ministers of Denmark and Greenland met in Washington this week with U.S. Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
That encounter didn’t resolve the deep differences, but did produce an agreement to set up a working group — on whose purpose Denmark and the White House then offered sharply diverging public views.
European leaders have insisted it is only for Denmark and Greenland to decide on matters concerning the territory, and Denmark said this week that it was increasing its military presence in Greenland in cooperation with allies.
“There is almost no better ally to the United States than Denmark,” Coons said. “If we do things that cause Danes to question whether we can be counted on as a NATO ally, why would any other country seek to be our ally or believe in our representations?”
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Associated Press writer Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.
People gather for a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
People gather for a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
People march during a pro- Greenlanders demonstration, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Emil Helms/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
Icicles hang from the roof of the US consulate in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
A Danish serviceman walks in front of Joint Arctic Command center in Nuuk, Greenland, on Friday, Jan. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
Senator Chris Coons from the Democratic Party speaks during a press conference with the American delegation, consisting of senators and members of the House of Representatives, in Copenhagen, Denmark, Saturday, Jan. 17, 2026. (Ida Marie Odgaard/Ritzau Scanpix via AP)
