By Sunday 
Lions Star Reflects on Recovery, Support, and a Renewed Perspective Ahead of 2025 Season
Detroit’s defensive heartbeat just delivered the update fans have been waiting months to hear—he’s nearly back.
Aidan Hutchinson, the relentless edge rusher and face of the Lions’ defense, shared a major health milestone during his appearance on the “Thursday at The Masters” podcast. After months of silence and speculation following a brutal leg injury late last season, Hutchinson finally spoke—and the message was clear.
“I’m Good” and Almost Home
“I’m there. I’d say I’m good,” Hutchinson said, his tone steady but unmistakably optimistic. “I’ve got my last evaluation tests when I get back. I leave today and I go back tomorrow to the rehab. I’m gonna finish those evals and once I knock them out of the park, I’ll be on my way and done with rehab. It was a long process, I’ll tell you that.”
For fans counting down the days to OTAs and the return of training camp, those words are pure gold. The injury—a broken tibia and fibula suffered in a December matchup with the Cowboys—left a gaping hole in Detroit’s defense. Now, there’s finally light at the end of the tunnel.
The Sprint That Sparked Hope
Before this recent update, fans got a glimpse of Hutchinson’s progress via a surprise social media post—a video of him sprinting.
“People were loving that sprinting video, I didn’t think people would love it as much as they did,” he laughed. “But I got a lot of text messages, a lot of people DM’ing me. It was cool, the support has been amazing.”
For a guy known more for quarterback pressure than viral content, Hutchinson’s running clip became an unexpected rallying point for fans, teammates, and fellow athletes alike.
What the Injury Taught Him
This wasn’t just any setback—it was the longest, most grueling rehab of Hutchinson’s life. And in those long months of recovery, he gained something arguably more valuable than physical strength: perspective.
“It felt pretty long, the early stages were pretty rough but just being out of that now, you just have this appreciation for your body, you have this appreciation for no pain and running,” he said. “I’m happy to be done with that.”
The injury, he admits, changed the way he looks at others in the league—especially those sidelined by their own setbacks.
“To me, it was having this empathy for people who get hurt in the NFL. Playing at such a high level and then getting ripped from that,” Hutchinson said. “I feel like I typically would see guys in the training room and be like, ‘Hey man, hope you’re alright, hope you’re doing better.’ And then when I was in that position… it’s a funny perspective.”
Too Much Sympathy Can Hurt Too
But not every moment of kindness landed the way people intended.
“Guys would come up to me and be like, ‘Hey man, I hope you’re doing okay.’ This is like three weeks in, now, and I’m sitting there like, ‘If people keep victimizing me, I’m gonna victimize myself,’” he said. “It got to a point where I loved when people came up and treated me like everything was normal.”
From those interactions, Hutchinson took away something deeply personal—a fuller understanding of what it means to be sidelined, and what true support looks like.
Focused on 2025
Now, with rehab nearly behind him and hunger in his eyes, Hutchinson is looking ahead.
His recovery wasn’t just physical—it was emotional, even spiritual in its own way. And it forged a stronger, more empathetic version of himself.
He’s not just healing. He’s learning. And soon, he’ll be back to doing what he does best: terrorizing quarterbacks and rallying a team—and a city—that feeds off his fire.
The message is simple: Aidan Hutchinson is coming. And this time, he’s even better.