After wondering if he'd "get to play football again," Sam LaPorta raring to go

For a while there, Sam LaPorta was fearing the worst: that he might not regain nerve strength in his lower half, that he might never be the same, that his NFL career might be over after three short years.

It was a fretful phase for LaPorta in the months after he had back surgery to repair a herniated disk he suffered last November.

"Just waiting for the nerve strength to come back, being told it might not come back, all those feelings of maybe not being able to play again, it sucks sitting on the couch, my wife got the short end of the stick with that every night," LaPorta said Wednesday after the Lions' first practice of training camp. "I’d be telling her, 'Man, I really hope God allows me to get my nerve strength back and get to play football again.' She’s like, 'You’re finnnne. The doctor says you’re going to be fine, the training staff says you’re going to be great. You’re gonna come back and be great.'

"So shoutout to her, shoutout to (Lions director of player health) Brett Fischer. The entire athletic training staff has been amazing throughout his process."

LaPorta missed the final eight games of last season, during which the Lions went 3-5 and crashed out of the playoff race. They badly missed his every-down impact on offense, from his obvious production in the passing game to his increasing effectiveness as a blocker. On Jan. 4, the day the Lions played their season finale in Chicago, five weeks after his surgery, LaPorta started rehab in Allen Park with Fischer.

"And going ever since," he said. "They’ve had to tell me to get away from the building for my breaks. Other than that, I've been here. And emotionally, physically, mentally, it feels really good to be back."

LaPorta, 25, said the nerve strength in his legs "came back in phases," starting with the glute, down to the hamstrings and eventually to the calf.

"Two or three months ago the full strength came back, and you could see the muscle atrophy start to diminish and grow that strength back," he said. "I’ve had three or four good months under my belt of running, cutting, sprinting, and now I’m hitting, obviously going to be in pads soon, so I’m excited."

The Lions are excited to have him back. New offensive coordinator Drew Petzing is excited to get to work with him. The feeling is mutual. LaPorta watched fellow tight end Trey McBride become a star in Petzing's offense in Arizona, which featured a lot of heavy personnel with an emphasis on tight ends. McBride leads NFL tight ends in catches and yards over the last two seasons.

"I think the league is gravitating toward tight end play right now with the 12 and 13 personnel, which is exiting for us specifically," said LaPorta. "But I had more of an outsider’s view (of Petzing's offense) during OTA’s, was off to the side and got to watch mostly, and now to get to be a part of it, just super amped to work with him."

LaPorta is one of three members of Detroit's 2023 draft class still in line for an extension after Jack Campbell kicked things off this offseason. Brad Holmes and the Lions fully intend to lock up LaPorta, Jahmyr Gibbs and Brian Branch in the coming months, assuming LaPorta and Branch -- both of whom are entering contract seasons -- look like themselves coming off injuries.

Asked what kind of motivation it is to secure a new deal, LaPorta said, "I think for everybody that’s on the roster, money is motivation. This is our job now, to get to provide for your family is incredible. But for now, I’m just gonna let my agent and the organization handle that."

LaPorta is more focused on helping the Lions re-establish themselves as Super Bowl contenders after they went from first place to last in the NFC North. His return to action will play a big part in that. That's his real motivation entering year four in Detroit.

"Going 15-2 the year prior, winning the division, getting the 1 seed, and then fourth place in the division, 9-8, missed the playoffs, the drastic drop-off in production and wins, it’s definitely a motivating factor for us," LaPorta said. "And I think you can see it today, honestly. We’re flying around, the conditioning test was crushed yesterday, I got to sit back and watch the vets, I ran it the other day so I got that out of the way.

"I think guys are in incredible shape right now, we’re all very motivated and this group is hungry."

In dissecting where things went awry for the Lions last year, LaPorta pointed to situational football, "and that’s really where you get wins in this league." He emphasized being better on third and fourth down, in the red zone and in short-yardage situations, all areas in which LaPorta plays a key role.

"And I think the defense would reiterate the same thing on their side of the ball," he said. "I think that’s the first step in us becoming a great team again, and we’ll obviously address that throughout camp."

It's a big year for LaPorta and the Lions, a tight end and a team trying to reassert themselves atop the NFL. The Lions come back younger and hungrier, LaPorta comes back healthy and raring to go.

"Every year it’s a new team," he said. "There’s fresh faces, it’s exciting to have Drew in the building, (Kelvin Sheppard's) a second-year coordinator now, a lot of trust in him. I think there’s trust to be built, a lot of opportunity for guys, and I think it’s an exciting spot right now for the Detroit Lions."