ALLEN PARK -- Aidan Hutchinson is fully cleared and back on the field for the Detroit Lions.
The star Lions pass rusher reiterated a couple of times that he is fully cleared for football and that he knew he would be back:
“It was just a couple of bones.”
In his first time speaking with reporters since suffering a broken tibia and fibula against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 5 last season, Hutchinson detailed his long road back and how he’s feeling now.
“It’s great. I got cleared a while back and, now, I’m just rolling with the boys now, and it feels like I’m back to being myself again,” Hutchinson said. “I’m really looking forward to the season. I’m looking forward to -- I think this is the most excited I’ve been for OTAs in my life. This is the biggest hiatus I’ve had playing ball, so I am pumped.”
Hutchinson was also asked if he would have been ready to play in the Super Bowl had the Lions made it that far. He slyly left the hint of mystery on that topic, saying:
“I guess we’ll never know.”
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Hutchinson said his recovery process and the trials and tribulations along the way matured him as a person and player. He noted that when he was forced to stay back in the Dallas hotel after the injury, it was his first time staying overnight in a hospital and that it was a truly tough and taxing recovery process.
And now that he’s on the other side he’s grateful for the experience and how it molded him mentally and physically on and off the field.
“Going through that injury, you kind of, for a while, I felt like I was just kind of numb to things, you know,” Hutchinson said. “I had this vision of how the season was going to go, and it was going that way. Then, boom, that’s over.
“And I feel like for a while, I kind of was a little, you get in that victim mode a little bit. Guys come up to you, they’re like, ‘Hey, man, you doing all right?’ And then people kind of reinforce it, and so after a little bit of time, I kind of just had a little heart-to-heart with God, and just one of those nights where you’re laying in bed and a lot is going through your head, and you’re emotional.”
When Hutchinson went down, he was rolling at a truly elite level. Hutchinson posted 7.5 sacks, 17 quarterback hits and 45 pressures through only five games and 280 snaps. He was on pace for a defensive player of the year award and first-team All-Pro honors.
And once the season ended, Hutchinson was still the team leader in sacks and tied for third in quarterback pressures, speaking to his importance in Detroit.
Hutchinson’s injury, on the heels of Derrick Barnes going down early in the year, seemed to start a never-ending flow of injuries and lost pieces on the defensive side of the ball. The stud pass rusher said it was tough to watch from afar, but seeing how the patchwork defense battled down the stretch was truly inspiring.
“You want to be a part of the winning that was going on (last year),” Hutchinson said. “As much as I was a part of the team when you’re not really there, and you don’t really feel like you’re a part of it, so when I was able to get back on my feet again, that’s when I was trying to be as involved as I could.
“Watching the defense, it was, I mean, it was inspiring. Dudes rolling out there, and it was like, ‘I’m sure y’all didn’t even know their names.’ And like coaches, my coach, he was like, ‘Dude, I got guys out there that just got here three days ago.’ To see the way they played was a testament to AG (Aaron Glenn) and a testament to those guys buying into what we were doing.”
None of Hutchinson’s teammates on the offensive side of the ball have seen him back in action at this stage of the offseason. But tight end Sam LaPorta and offensive tackle Penei Sewell said Hutchinson’s presence back in the building is something you feel.
There was a moment on the field last week that made defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard stop and realize that Hutchinson was back and feeling like himself again.
“I went over there during individual (drills), and I said, ‘Hutch, you know how I know you’re back?’ He said, ‘How?’” Sheppard said. “I said, ‘Because you’re touching that ground when you run that hoop,’ and that’s his little thing that he does, like he’s some supernatural cat -- which he is. But I’m like, ‘That’s how I know you’re back, big dog.’ And he said, ‘I got you, DC.’
“You would not know he’s the caliber player that he is by the way he carries himself. The way he works, his attention to detail in meetings, the way he helps people, and the way he wants to be pushed and coached hard. Like, you start to get to a certain level, and people think those guys at the top echelon and tier of the league, they’re tapped out potentially, it’s all over. Most of those guys that’s really special. They never have that thought in their mind. They want to be coached hard. They want to be pushed. The better the player, the harder you gotta work to push and coach those guys. He’s a guy that’s all-in, and I’m elated to have him out there on the grass.”
The Lions are opening the doors for access to OTAs next week, and we’ll be there for it all, including Hutchinson’s return.
“I’m fully cleared,” Hutchinson said.