On Christmas Eve in 2023, DJ Wonnum tore his quad in the Vikings' loss to the Lions. While Detroit celebrated its first division title in 30 years, Wonnum started a grueling journey back to the football field. Multiple surgeries, a long hospital stint and a serious health infection lay ahead. Wonnum didn't know it at the time, but he wouldn't play again for almost a full year.
"It was a tough experience just going through the injuries and the different setbacks that came along with that, and obviously the blood clots. But that didn't stop me," Wonnum said Friday after signing with the Lions. "It kept me going. That just showed my resilience."
The surgery on Wonnum's quad should have been simple, and his recovery should have been routine. But complications related to his stitches led to two more operations and a bout with MRSA in his leg, which led to Wonnum being laid up in the hospital for a week as antibiotics were pumped into his body through a PICC line in his arm.
The PICC line had to stay in for six weeks and couldn't get wet, which meant that Wonnum wasn't allowed to sweat. It was early in the summer. The only way for Wonnum to work out, after signing a two-year, $12.5 million deal with the Panthers coming off an eight-sack season, was to exercise at the team's stadium and pop into an industrial kitchen freezer every few minutes to cool off.
"I'd lift a little bit, and then if I felt like I was about to sweat I'd go run in the freezer," he said. "Cool off a little bit, then come back."
When the PICC line finally came out, Wonnum wound up with blood clots in his arm, a life-threatening condition if not treated quickly. Wonnum, who was 26 at the time, went on blood thinners for the next several months, well into the season.
"This all happened when I was in Carolina trying to get back on the field," he said, "but eventually I was able to get back out there and make plays."
Wonnum was activated in the final week of October and had a sack in his Panthers debut. He had another the next game, and a third two games after that. He finished with four sacks and 26 QB pressures in eight games, while playing a big role in defending the run.
Wonnum's pass-rush productivity waned last year with three sacks in 16 games -- he missed one game with a hip injury -- but he was tied for 11th in the NFL among edge defenders with 19 run stops, per PFF. He is a firm, powerful player who can set an edge. The Lions clearly value that part of Wonnum's game, and he values it in them.
"I love the physical nature, the winning culture that the Lions have had over the past few years," he said. "And being familiar (from) playing in Minnesota a little bit, and then being able to come back to the North, which I'm very familiar with, was a big part of my decision. And then the familiarity with the coaching staff. Just being around those guys, being able to meet them. And obviously having that relationship with Shep was a big decision for me."
Wonnum and Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard are both from Stone Mountain, Georgia, a small suburb of Atlanta. They went to the same high school, and their parents grew up about a mile from each other. When Sheppard was playing at LSU and later in the NFL and Wonnum was growing up in Stone Mountain, "Shep was, like, almost a God," said Wonnum.
"When I was in high school, everybody, we all looked up to him. We didn’t really know him much ... but our relationship has grown over the years," said Wonnum. "I got to know him a little bit when I was in Minnesota, we talked a little bit before the games, but not much. But when I took my visit a couple days ago, I was able to really get a good overview of him and how he is and the type of player he was."
It remains to be seen how Sheppard and the Lions deploy him, but Wonnum will certainly be an important piece of their run defense -- which sagged down the stretch last season. He's not as impactful as a pass-rusher, but he's looking forward to boosting that part of his game by rushing more often with a hand in the dirt, something he did earlier in his career. Wonnum had 20 sacks over his final three seasons with the Vikings.
While Wonnum likes the vantage point of rushing from the two-point stance where he can scan the offense, "I’m going to implement getting back in that three-point stance, which is going to allow me to have a little bit more burst, getting off the rock," he said. "Being able to do both this year will be big for me."
The Lions will need steady production from Wonnum this season across from Aidan Hutchinson. They got 11 sacks in that spot last season from Al-Quadin Muhammad, but let him walk as a free agent because they didn't view him as a complete player. Muhammad was deployed almost exclusively as a pass-rusher in Detroit. He was tied for last in the NFL last year with two run stops.
Wonnum, 28, says that he can "do it all" as an edge rusher: "I’ve made plays in every phase of the game. I’ve set the edge hard, I’ve gotten to the quarterback, and I’ve dropped into coverage and got interceptions. So I feel like I can bring a lot to the defense."
"Obviously I’ve been banged up the last couple years, dealing with the quad and all that, but this year was my first offseason being able to train and not rehab. Being able to get stronger, get better, get faster is going to allow me to have a much better year this year," Wonnum said. "I’m excited to get back on the field."