When Detroit Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson suffered a fractured leg in a win over the Dallas Cowboys in October, there was hope he might be able to return for the Super Bowl if his team advanced that far.
Now, Hutchinson may have a chance to hit the field earlier.
Fox Sports insider Jay Glazer reported on Dec. 8 that Hutchinson has been progressing through his rehab at a healthy rate and could come back earlier in the playoffs, a potential boon for a Lions team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Aidan Hutchinson Shows Good Progress
Glazer reported that Hutchinson has been working to improve mobility on his leg and showing steady signs of progress, which could allow him to return for the NFC Championship game — two weeks earlier than initially projected.
“Aidan Hutchinson, look, here’s where he is,” Glazer said, via SI.com. “He’s actually doing some underwater running on an underwater treadmill. He’s able to walk on land, as they say, he’s supposed to use a cane but he’s not really using it right now. And they actually are holding out hope, just because of how hard he works, that he could possibly be back not the Super Bowl, but the NFC Championship game depending on how that bone feels, and Dan Campbell says also, how much practice he gets.”
Campbell had already hinted that the Lions might see Hutchinson on the field again this season, saying in the days after the injury that the rehab timeframe would conclude around the same time as the Super Bowl.
“The surgery went great — it is all good news,” Campbell said, via Schuyler Dixon of The Associated Press. “It’s probably 4-6 months, but I would never count Hutch out. It hurts, but if anyone could make it back, it is him.”
Hutchinson has been the team’s most consistent pass rusher over the last three seasons, with the team struggling to find a consistent player to line up opposite of him. Though he only appeared in five games this season before suffering his injury, Hutchinson still leads the team with 7.5 sacks this year.
Lions in Line for Top Seed After Gutsy Call
The Lions stand atop the NFC at 12-1, coming off a hard-fought win over the Green Bay Packers on Thursday. With the Lions deep in Packers’ territory with 43 seconds left in the game and the score tied at 31-31, Campbell opted to go for it on fourth-and-1 to ensure the Lions would have the last chance to win.
The Lions converted, with running back David Montgomery gathering a handoff from quarterback Jared Goff as he tripped and fell to the turf and ran past the first-down marker. The Lions went on to win 34-31 on a kick from Jake Bates.
After the game, Campbell said he wanted to put his trust in the offense.
“I just felt like we needed to end it on offense,” Campbell said, via the team’s official website. “I did not want to give that ball back and I believed we could get that. I believed we could convert, and I trust that O-line, I trust David, and they came through for us. It’s a hell of a call by (offensive coordinator) Ben (Johnson). I knew how I wanted to play this game, the team knew it, and everything in me told me, ‘Let’s finish this,’ and so we did.”
