Like that well-known image of Dan Campbell from late in the 2022 season when the Lions were on the rise, Aidan Hutchinson depicted his recovery from a broken leg by gliding his hand through the air like a plane taking flight.
"It was really just a steady, gradual climb," Hutchinson said Thursday. "I always knew I was going to be back. I was never that concerned, because it was just a couple of bones. Obviously I got a little impatient with it sometimes, but I always knew that the end was near."
Well, not always. Hutchinson admitted that his rehab was a long, grueling process, as trying emotionally as physically. When he was carted off the field in Dallas and rushed via ambulance into surgery, he wound up spending a couple nights in the hospital for the first time in his life, in a painful fog pierced by beeping machines. "One of the most miserable experiences I’ve probably (ever) had."
"For a while I feel like I was just numb to things, because I had this vision of how the season was going to go, and it was going that way, and then, boom, that’s over," Hutchinson said. "And I feel like for a while you get in that victim mode for a bit."
Through five games, Hutchinson was the frontrunner for Defensive Player of the Year. He was first in the NFL with 7.5 sacks, and had 16 more quarterback pressures than anyone else who had played in the same number of games. He was as close to unstoppable as it gets. Then his left leg whipped around the leg of teammate Alim McNeill, and the rest of the season was ripped from Hutchinson's hands.
"I would say there’s motivation not from it getting taken away, but me putting that on tape, I had a lot of growth in those first five games to where you evolve as a player and things were clicking at a high level," he said.
Hutchinson compared his new psyche as a pass-rusher to that of a golfer having "good swing thoughts. ... And I feel like that’s just going to carry over and I’m going to continue to build on that."
"I think a lot of people believe that (last year) is my ceiling, but I still believe that I’m going to push for those greater heights," he said. "I’m 24. I’m still a young dude. And I think I have a lot of — I don’t think that’s the peak. That’s the point."
More than seven months removed from the injury, Hutchinson is fully cleared for the Lions' offseason program. New defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard smiled last week and said that when he saw Hutchinson swipe the ground and bend around a hoop during an individual drill "like he’s some supernatural cat -- which he is -- "I’m like, ‘That’s how I know you’re back, big dog.'" As Hutchinson said Thursday, "It feels like I’m back to being myself."
"I’m really looking forward to the season. I think this is the most excited I’ve been for OTA’s in my life," he said. "This is the biggest hiatus I’ve had without playing ball, so I’m pumped."
The Lions went 11-1 without Hutchinson last season, before a wave of injuries on defense and an uncharacteristically sloppy performance by the offense caught up to them in the playoffs. He called it inspiring to watch the defense hold its own with several spare parts. It also gnawed at him to be stuck in a suite at Ford Field or, later in the year, on the sidelines while his teammates went to war on the turf.
"You want to be a part of the winning that was going on," he said. "And as much as I was a part of the team, when you’re not really there you don’t really feel like you’re a part of it."
He does now, and his teammates feel it. Right tackle Penei Sewell, a co-captain with Hutchinson last year, said Thursday that "his presence means a lot not only to the defensive side, but to us. His work ethic, that type of energy, everyone just gravitates to it. We all want to be that type of guy, come in day with relentless effort both in the classroom and on the field."
After several challenging months, Hutchinson has to navigate three and a half more to reach the season opener in Green Bay, to run out of the tunnel and back into action, to officially leave the injury behind him. But the worst is already in the rearview. As tempting as it might be to "flash-forward" to Week 1, he said, "there’s a beauty in the process that you can’t really get in those games ... a different kind of joy" that comes from mastering a certain pass-rush move on the practice field or even nailing a certain step.
"But I don’t think anybody in the game of football will ever be as grateful (as me) when I come back in that first game," Hutchinson said. "That’s what it’s all about. It’s the comeback. I mean, I’m back, but just being able to do what I love again on the biggest stage -- that’s what sets my heart on fire."