Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson posted a video of himself sprinting in February and his recovery from his season-ending broken fibula and tibia has just about reached the finished line with the team’s offseason program about to start.
Hutchinson gave an update on where things stand during an interview with Marty Smith of ESPN from The Masters golf tournament this week. Hutchinson said there were “pretty rough” moments early on the process, but that being through those times has left him with “this appreciation” for what his body is capable of doing.
That body has progressed to a point where Hutchinson said that his next stop was to officially put an end to the rehabilitation process.
“I’m there. I’d say I’m good,” Hutchinson said. “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 had 28.5 sacks in 39 regular season games before his injury and three sacks in three playoff games, which makes it easy to understand why the Lions will be happy to have him back in the fold. It also makes it easy to understand why they might move sooner rather than later to lock him up with a long-term contract extension.
