While the Detroit Lions enjoyed a 47-9 win over the Dallas Cowboys in Texas on Sunday, October 13, the victory was overshadowed by the severe injury suffered by Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson, who broke his tibia during the game.
Lions head coach Dan Campbell said Hutchinson, who already had 7.5 sacks for the season, has returned to Michigan after being in Texas for several days getting medical care. During a press conference on October 16, Campbell spoke more about how Hutchinson is doing.
Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson is Dealing With a Situation That’s ‘Still Pretty New’
“I talked to him yesterday and he’s doing good,” Campbell said. “Now, he’s trying to process everything, it’s still pretty new and so just exactly, ‘What is this? Where do I go?’ Which you would expect. I mean, he’s laying in the hospital room with his leg up, but he’s back and I know that he didn’t want to be a stranger.”
He added, “I know he talked about being back a little bit when it made sense, and he knows he’s welcome here any time. We’d love to see him. The whole team would love to see him. He’s a huge part of who we are, and we hate it for him. But, yeah. We’ll see.”
The Detroit Lions Could Make a Move to Strengthen Their Defensive Line
The Lions have lost several defensive players from their active roster due to injury, including Hutchinson, Marcus Davenport, Kyle Peko and John Cominsky. Campbell says that the team is open to bringing some players on to strengthen their defense but that they aren’t “in a hurry.”
“I think literally it’s about doing your homework,” Campbell said. “You’re digging through things, not just what’s on the tape but what else is out there that you don’t quite know about. You check on somebody and it’s like, ‘Well I may be open to it but you’ve got 24 hours.’ OK, something’s going on. Brad [Holmes, general manager] is on it. He’s looking at everything. Nothing’s off the table, but we’re just not in a hurry. We’re not in a hurry.”
Of course, bringing in a star edge rusher isn’t easy. It’s often difficult to find that available talent, especially at this point in the season. Still, Campbell says he’s certain that Holmes is doing everything he can to figure out what kind of edge rusher makes sense for the team. He mentioned that “trade value” and “contract” are two important factors in bringing on a new player.
“Look, Brad knows the ins and outs of what it would take to acquire somebody,” he said. “I don’t know all of those, but I know enough to know that if it’s somebody that is highly productive, 6-foot-6, 285 pounds, run a 4.4 and 35-inch arms.”
He added, “Those guys don’t just fall off trees. You’re going to have to… you know, do you want to trade Hutch for that guy? Some of it is, certainly, trade value. It’s also contract. Does that have a bearing on our future and who we’re trying to get signed moving forward?”
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Lions’ Aidan Hutchinson Returns & Is Attempting to ‘Process Everything’