Getty Tracy Walker gestures during a game against Philadelphia in 2022.
The Detroit Lions have caught fire in the second half of the season, and a big reason has been a renaissance on defense.
It has impressed everyone, including safety Tracy Walker, who has been sidelined with an Achilles injury and shared an update on the progress of his rehab.
“Also for my people who want to know how my recovery going.. I’m ahead of schedule on when I come back from my injury so stay tuned!” Walker tweeted on December 11.
Also for my people who want to know how my recovery going.. I’m ahead of schedule on when I come back from my injury so stay tuned.!
Walker, who is in his fifth season with the Lions, tore his Achilles in the first quarter of the Lions’ Week 3 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on September 25. He’d already had 20 combined tackles by that point and was well on his way to shattering his career high of 108, set in 2021. Typically, a torn Achilles requires six to 12 months to mend, putting Walker on track for recovery in late March, at the earliest.
On December 9, Walker announced that he was no longer wearing a walking boot, according to a story by SB Nation’s Jeremy Reisman.
“I just want to let all my people know that’s tuned in, I told y’all the shakeback is real y’all,” Walker said in the Instagram Reel, according to Reisman. “Y’all see that? Ain’t no more boot, man. I told y’all, I’m getting right. Y’all heard me? The shakeback is real. Watch.”
Two months earlier, Walker had said that he hoped to be ready for the Lions’ organized team activities (OTA), which usually occur in late May.
“First step is trying to get ready for OTAs,” Walker said, according to an October 20 story by Reisman. “I don’t ever want to get too ahead if that makes sense.”
Walker Impressed by Lions’ Defense
Opponents are still putting up big numbers against the Lions. The Lions D has allowed 355 total yards per game during the recent stretch in which they’ve won five of six games, higher than the 350 yards per game allowed when Detroit when 1-7 to open the season. But the Lions haven’t laid down, adopting a fighter’s mentality in the second half of the season.
“I love the way my team is playing.. We dangerous,” Walker tweeted on December 11.
I love the way my team is playing.. We dangerous
And he nodded to 2023 with a follow-up tweet.
It’s going to really be scary when I get back‼️
“It’s going to really be scary when I get back!!” Walker wrote.
Walker’s Replacement Is Performing
Walker was hobbled on just the eighth play of the game in Week 3. In real-time, the injury didn’t look good for the Lions, especially when the medical cart drove onto the field.
“Tracy Walker headed to the locker room on a cart,” Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press tweeted at the time.
Tracy Walker headed to the locker room on a cart
Since taking over for Walker in the Lions’ starting lineup, rookie Kerby Joseph has come into his own and grown into the bigger role. Joseph, drafted in the third round out of Illinois, has 59 combined tackles, three interceptions and two forced fumbles.
According to Sports Illustrated, the Lions’ defense is “growing up fast and winning on the backs” of Joseph and his fellow rookie, Aidan Hutchinson.
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Injured Lions Defender Shares Progress Update: ‘Stay Tuned’