A week ago, Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson posted a video of himself , showing off his recovery from a season-ending broken fibula and tibia.
Two days ago, Hutchinson shared he's just about finished the rehab process.
"I'm there. I'd say I'm good," Hutchinson told Marty Smith on . "I've got my last evaluation tests when I get back, I leave today and I go back tomorrow to the rehab. I'm gonna finish those evals and once I knock them out of the park, I'll be on my way and done with rehab. It was a long process, I'll tell you that."
Hutchinson was already in the midst of a monster third season when he suffered his leg injury during a Week 6 a blowout of the Dallas Cowboys. Most notably, he delivered a Herculean 4.5-sack performance against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2 -- a half-sack more in a single game than any other Lion managed the entire season. His injury took him out with 7.5 sacks, 19 tackles, 17 quarterback hits, seven tackles for loss and a forced fumble through just five games.
It's little wonder Detroit held out hope Hutchinson could miraculously return if the team managed to reach its first-ever Super Bowl. The one-time Pro Bowl pass rusher even said he was on track to do so in mid-December.
Such a comeback story was not to be, however, as the Lions fell to the Washington Commanders in a Divisional Round shocker, causing heartbreak for the franchise but also allowing one of its most important players to continue rehabbing sans deadline.
"It felt pretty long," Hutchinson said of his recovery. "The early stages were pretty rough but just being out of that now, like we were talking about earlier, you just have this appreciation for your body, you have appreciation for no pain and running. I'm happy to be done with that. People were loving that sprinting video, too. I didn't think people would love it as much as they did. But I got a lot of text messages, a lot of people DMing me. It was cool, the support has been amazing."
The 12 games missed by Hutchinson during the 2024 season were the first of his career. He'd started all 42 contests (including three playoff games) before that and amassed 31.5 sacks. Having played at least 13 games in three of his four seasons at Michigan, Hutchinson was likewise used to being on the field in college.
His only other major injury also came in Year 3 with the Wolverines, a broken ankle that ended his junior season after three games.
Being sidelined this time in Detroit allowed him some perspective he'll take forward with him throughout his career, something that can only make him a better teammate and player.
"This is the biggest injury I've ever had," Hutchinson said. "When you're ripped out of the game, you love it, you want to get back, that's natural. To me, it was having this empathy for people that get hurt in the NFL. Playing at such a high level and then getting ripped from that. ... I gained an understanding from a different side of the game, which I would never have without this injury, you know? That was something I really learned about."
