ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Aidan Hutchinson is likely done playing this year because of the leg injury he sustained against the Cowboys, but surgery to repair his fractured tibia and fibula “went great” and Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday he isn't ready to declare his star pass rusher out for the season.
Hutchinson was carted off the field Sunday in the third quarter of Detroit's 47-9 win over Dallas and had surgery at Baylor White Medical Center.
“The surgery went great — it is all good news,” Campbell said. “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 was set to return this week to Detroit from the Dallas-area hospital.
“It’s really tough and he’s a guy who’s part of the heartbeat of this team,” Lions quarterback Jared Goff said after the game. “He will be fine, you know, he’s going to come back eventually whenever that may be but knowing him he will be fine and he will bounce back.”
Hutchinson's leg appeared to snap above the ankle when it collided with the left leg of teammate Alim McNeill as Hutchinson was pulling Dallas QB Dak Prescott down for a sack.
“I haven’t seen it myself so I couldn’t really tell,” McNeill said. “I didn’t know if it was him or not, but I did feel somebody like leg-whip me, and then I see Hutch down. That’s wild to see. I hate that for him.”
The Lions were leading 34-6 at the time of the injury to Hutchinson, who entered the game as the NFL leader in sacks with 6 1/2.
There was a delay of about 10 minutes as medical personnel tended to Hutchinson while players from both teams made a large circle around the second overall pick in the 2022 draft.
After Hutchinson was loaded onto a cart with a cast on his leg, teammates and Dallas players reached over to pat the 24-year-old. Hutchinson had the third Detroit sack of the game. McNeill had the first two.
“That’s hard for everybody when you’re standing there and that’s one of yours and something like that happens,” Campbell said after the game. “If you dwell on that too much and you start playing a little timid, that’s when you get hurt. So guys snapped right back in and they lived in the moment where we’re on.”
Prescott, who landed on top of Hutchinson's left leg after the injury occurred, sustained a similar injury to his right leg on the same field in Week 5 in 2020, ending his season.
Dallas' star quarterback was among the players who tried to offer Hutchinson words of encouragement as he was taken off the field.
“It’s just something that I felt in the moment,” Prescott said. “I’ll probably get his number from one of the Michigan guys in the locker room and reach out again. ... When you’re in that, it’s blurry. So I don’t even know if he heard them. Don’t care if he heard them. I understand where he was.”
___
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
