Dan Campbell stepped to the podium Wednesday in Allen Park, announced that Alim McNeill was returning to practice and grinned, "I’m sorry for some of those guys who are going to have to line up across from him. He’s ready to go."
Raring to go, really. A little less than 10 months after a torn ACL halted his fourth NFL season, McNeill got the green light this week to get back on the field. The Lions hope to have him back in the lineup later this month, perhaps at home on Monday Night Football in Week 7 against the Bucs. The star defensive tackle who Campbell affectionately calls 'Buttercup' compared his return to "baking a cake."
"There’s just different steps and different layers you just gotta cook a little bit. Mentally I feel like I’ve been ready, I’ve been itching to get out there," McNeill said. "But now that the moment is here, it’s time to capitalize on it."
McNeill already made the most of his time away. He attacked rehab the way he gets after guards: relentlessly. The workouts he's been doing with the Lions' strength and conditioning staff are "two to three times harder than practice," he said, which made Wednesday feel normal. McNeill, who's been known for his offseason gains, was rather maniacal about his extra time in the gym. His goal was not to get back to where he was last season.
"I was still trying to transform my body," he said. "I was trying to go to another dimension."
McNeill said he got significantly stronger in his upper body and core, while also strengthening his ankles and feet to help stabilize his right knee. He famously cut 13 percent body fat before his third season, then emerged as one of the best young interior pass-rushers in the NFL. He said he's become more "in tune" with his body as his career has progressed.
"I was still trying to take that to the next level even when I was down and out. That was my whole goal, just come back even better. I can’t come back the same," said McNeill. "That would defeat the point of working out."
Wednesday was just one practice. The Lions weren't in pads. McNeill didn't get many reps. But asked if he felt his added strength on the field, he staged hitting an offensive linemen with a long arm and said, "To be able to get hands on people, yeah, everything felt different. Upper body, back, the chest is strong, everything feels good. I’ll really see how it is tomorrow, though. That’s my test."
The Lions have already passed a few without him. They've won three in a row since their season-opening loss to the Packers, with the defense acing last week's game against the Browns. McNeill said last year that he envisioned "destruction" in the trenches when he teamed up with D.J. Reader. Asked Wednesday about joining Reader and rookie Tyleik Williams, McNeill broke into a smile and said, "Double destruction."
"I see the same thing, and we added another elite piece to the D-line, so I think we’ll be even better," he said. "That’s my goal."
Williams, the first-round pick, has played well in the early going. He looks so much like McNeill at times that Campbell calls him Baby Mac, especially the way he stalks the run. Williams has also flashed some pass-rush ability next to Reader, who's been eating double teams as much as almost any defensive tackle in the NFL. Adding McNeill to the mix could be, well, the icing on the cake of a terrific trio on the interior.
In McNeill's eyes, Williams has already "done a lot and proved a lot ... so I’m just waiting to see how he turns out when he becomes that mature, pro defensive tackle that we know he can be. He’s been doing a great job, in my opinion, of playing physical and playing fast."
Rehab can be a long, lonely road. It can be dark and dispiriting. McNeill never let it get there. The 25-year-old who signed a $97 million extension with the Lions last season couldn't have a bad day if he tried. He spent the bulk of his comeback training in San Diego, where the sun kept shining.
"Me personally, I can’t have dark days, just because that doesn’t do anything for me. I have to go forward, and my only goal was to get back on the field," said McNeill. "So I'm like, dark days for what? I play for the Lions, I'm training, I don’t have to pay for this training. Every day I woke up and was like, let’s get better today. I knew I was coming back to the field. It was definitely work that had to be put in, but that's what I love to do. That’s why I didn’t have any dark days where I was down. I love working out, I love getting better and training hard 'till you can’t walk no more. That’s me."
McNeill hobbled off the field last December, and Detroit's injury-ravaged defense eventually collapsed. At the time, McNeill was having his best season yet, ranking 10th overall among interior defenders, per Pro Football Focus. The Lions are adding another difference-maker to a unit that already looks more dangerous under Kelvin Sheppard. You can understand McNeill's excitement to be back.
"Got tired of watching," he said.