Detroit Lions react to gruesome leg break

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Aidan Hutchinson was lying on a stretcher, his left leg immobilized, on his way to an ambulance waiting to take him to a local hospital when Alex Anzalone leaned over and looked his teammate in the eyes.

Anzalone said he didn't remember exactly what he said to Hutchinson, but he knew he had to be there for the Pro Bowl defense after he rallied early in the third quarter in the Detroit Lions' 47-9 win suffered a broken tibia against the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys.

“It’s just an emotional moment,” Anzalone told the Free Press. “You don’t really remember what you say or whatever, but it’s just one of those guys. I have a really close relationship with him and I can see the emotions in that moment and looking someone in the eyes in that situation is hard, but you're just trying to show that you're there for them and you're thinking about them. Football doesn't matter, it's just the disappointment and discouraging feeling that he probably feels like he knows something is wrong. It's just hard.

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Lions coach Dan Campbell said Hutchinson would remain in Dallas overnight after undergoing surgery for his injury with 11:43 left in the third quarter.

Hutchinson was injured when his leg collided with teammate Alim McNeill as he threw Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott to the ground for a sack.

Hutchinson released Prescott from his grasp as he fell to the ground and immediately removed the gloves from both hands as he writhed in pain.

“It was frightening to see,” McNeill said. “It was scary to see. He was just down there. I knew it wasn't anything crazy, crazy, crazy, but he couldn't move that leg. He didn't move that leg, so I thought, 'Not me.' I don't know what happened. But who knows when Hutch comes back, he'll fight in that rehab. but it was scary to see him down there.”

The Lions played their best game of the season overall on Sunday. They scored on nine straight possessions to open the game (not including a knee-down snap at the end of the first half) and held the Cowboys' potent offense to three field goals.

They allowed one of those field goals in the series. Hutchinson was injured and will have to play without their best defensive player indefinitely – perhaps the rest of the season.

Campbell said Hutchinson will be “out for a while” because of his injury and expects to hear more about his recovery timeline on Monday.

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“These are tough moments,” Campbell said. “It's hard for everyone when you're standing there and that's one of you and then something like that happens. But I just see – look, our guys did a good job and the coaches just refocused on the task at hand.” Because if you get too caught up in it and play a little shy, you're going to get hurt. So our boys jumped right back in and lived in the moment, and that’s a credit to our players and coaches.”

Replacing Hutchinson won't be easy.

He led the NFL with 6½ sacks in four games and was the NFC Defensive Player of the Month for September. He had at least one sack in four of the Lions' five games this season and had 4½ sacks in a Week 2 loss to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The Lions, already likely without two of their other top pass rushers of the year – Marcus Davenport tore his triceps in a Week 3 win against the Arizona Cardinals and Derrick Barnes suffered a knee injury in the same game – exited play on Sunday with Josh Paschal. Trevor Nowaske and practice linebacker Isaach Ukwu form their top defense.

Paschal, who started the last two games in place of Davenport, had two tackles and a quarterback hit on Sunday. In the second half, Nowaske was sacked for the first time in his career. And Ukwu made two tackles in his first career game.

Anzalone expressed confidence in the Lions' internal replacements, but said he expects the team to explore all options to expand its defensive line given its status as one of the NFC's top Super Bowl contenders.

“It's hard to replace a player like Hutch and I'm sure they'll do their best to try to get that production from somewhere, whether that's – who knows?” Anzalone said. “You don’t really know what rumors are true or not, but from a player perspective you would probably expect it given where our team is and what we could potentially do.”

Dave Birkett will be signing copies of his new book, “Detroit Lions: An Illustrated Timeline,” at 24 Seconds Bar & Grill in Berkley on October 21 at 7 p.m. and at Stadium Cards on October 22 from 5:30 to 7 p.m & Comics in Ypsilanti. Order your copy here.

Contact Dave Birkett at [email protected]. Follow him on X and Instagram at @davebirkett.

Detroit Lions react to gruesome leg break

ByVanessa

By Vanessa

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