Robert Porcher was in the building when the lights went out on Aidan Hutchinson's season. He watched in stunned silence with the rest of the capacity crowd at AT&T Stadium as Hutchinson was carted off the field. Hutchinson was halfway to Porcher's single-season sacks record with the Lions, just five games into the year, when his left leg whipped around the leg of Alim McNeill and fractured in two.
10 months later, Porcher was waiting for Hutchinson as No. 97 walked off the field after the final practice of training camp. One of the greatest pass-rushers in franchise history met another in the making. Porcher greeted Hutchinson with a handshake and a hug and told him that "I was at that game in Dallas." They lamented it for a moment. Then Hutchinson smiled and said, "We're moving on."
The Lions' defense was the talk of camp. Hutchinson was the center of the conversation. He was a terror for Detroit's offensive line, then for Miami's, and on Thursday for Houston's, though the Texans did a better job of limiting his damage. The only sign of Hutchinson's injury was a black compression sleeve he wore on his left leg. Porcher, visibly impressed, said, “I wasn’t aware he was full tilt.”
Physically, Hutchinson has never felt better. Mentally, he needed a little reassurance. About three weeks ago, Detroit’s starting defense was on the field for a goal-line play when Hutchinson took the same kind of blow to the same leg from a fellow linebacker, “right smack-dab where Alim hit me,” he said.
"I got up, shook it out and you’re like, 'We’re back,'" Hutchinson said with a smile. "It really grows the mental and the physical. When you can get leg-whipped, you start to have that confidence of, I got a steel rod in my leg and this thing’s not going anywhere."
With Hutchinson, the Lions' defense could be going places. He wasn't quite as disruptive in Thursday's joint practice with the Texans, though he hurried C.J. Stroud into a couple throwaways during full team drills and ultimately got home for a sack in the red zone. Houston has the look of a good, young team in the AFC. The Lions narrowly escaped the Texans last season on a night Jared Goff would rather forget.
The day Hutchinson will always remember was Oct. 13. He had 7.5 sacks and counting when his breakout season came to a gruesome end, on pace for about 25 over 17 games. He had the inside lane for Defensive Player of the Year. Porcher, who had 15 sacks (in 15 games) in 1999 when he set the single-season franchise record, smiled and said, "He’s just like I was."
"Everybody wants to chart their own path, and you understand that this game has been here before you and it’ll be here after you and if you have your head on right, you try to learn from the guys and then you just do your thing," said Porcher. "He’s off to an incredible, fast start. I love his game because he plays fast. And what I mean by that is, he just reacts. He does everything fast. He’s not out there overthinking it, and that makes a difference. He’s comfortable."
If Hutchinson stays healthy this season, 15 sacks is within his reach. Porcher hopes he gets there, and then some, just like he once chased a couple franchise greats himself.
"All records are made to be broken. I was the same way, I just looked at Bill Gay and Al Bubba Baker, and I know Bill Gay had the most sacks in one game — 5.5 was his record — I knew Al Bubba Baker had the overall franchise record, so I was always aware of that and shooting for those goals. I would be surprised if he’s not aware and not thinking of that, because he should."
For the, well, record, Baker had more than 15 sacks in each of his first three seasons, including 23 as a rookie in 1978, per Pro Football Reference. But the NFL didn't start recording sacks as an official statistic until 1982. If the league recognized the numbers kept by Pro Football Reference, Baker would be the NFL's all-time single-season sack leader. Instead, Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt share that record with 22.5.
But we digress. Porcher, who retired in 2003 with 95.5 sacks, the most in franchise history as recognized by the NFL, said that "my goal was always to just be mentioned as one of the best to play for this franchise, and eventually someone will surpass those sacks. I’ll always be in the top five — and that works for me!"
Porcher didn't hit the prime of his career until year six, he said, and he doesn't think Hutchinson has hit his: "He’s still young. He hasn’t really figured it out yet. By the time he gets to year six, seven, it’ll really be second nature to him." Hutchinson, who turned 25 this month, is entering year four. It took Porcher time to hit his stride because the Lions shuffled through schemes early in his career, he said, "and it wasn’t an ideal defense for what I did."
"Once we moved to a 4-3, where I could just get in the gaps and go, then it turned around. And that’s the system that he’s in, and a guy with his leverage and arm length and his speed, it’s ideal," said Porcher.
Hutchinson was well on his way last season to breaking records. The Lions looked well on their way to a deep playoff run. We all know how it ended. The latter is everyone's focus this year. The Super Bowl is the goal. When asked if he thinks Hutchinson can reach 15 sacks with good health, Porcher said, "He definitely has an opportunity to do it — all of it."
"We wish him luck and I hope he continues to have the kind of career that he’s having and stays healthy," Porcher said. "He’s off to a fast start. I’m pulling for him."