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    • Aidan Hutchinson's injury casts a dark cloud over the Lions after the win
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    Aidan Hutchinson's injury casts a dark cloud over the Lions after the win

    Kathleen William Posted on

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    ARLINGTON, Texas – They just crushed the Dallas Cowboys at Jerry World. They won in the trenches, on the edges and in the belly.

    It was, as they say in Texas, a good old fashioned butt spanking.

    The next moment, the Detroit Lions knelt in respect.

    Sunday's 47-9 loss at AT&T Stadium was punctuated by a football reality check for more than 10 minutes in the third quarter when Aidan Hutchinson, Detroit's spectacular defensive player, lay on the ground. Hutchinson came into the game as the NFL leader with 6½ sacks. He set off on a cart, his left leg in a cast.

    Hutchinson suffered a broken tibia and had to undergo immediate surgery. The fracture is believed to have occurred in the lower leg.

    “It was tough,” Lions coach Dan Campbell said. “Obviously he’s going to be out for a while.”

    Running back David Montgomery Hutchinson called the “heartbeat of this team.” This certainly speaks to his courage, his skills, his passion and his leadership qualities.

    But Hutchinson, a third-year vet, also reminds us how fortunes can change in an instant on a football field. Each play can be the final play of a game, a season, or even a career. Football is so hard, and yet every player is committed.

    Sport also has a way of providing perspective. The Lions (4:1) won and lost at times. While Campbell called the 38-point win the most complete game of his tenure — the Lions gained 492 yards, never punted, forced five turnovers and didn't give up a touchdown — his team suddenly had to deal with the loss of arguably its best player.

    This had to come quickly. But it's part of football. One minute, as doctors and athletic trainers treated Hutchinson, concern was evident given the silence that fell over the 93,644 spectators who had been roaring for much of the afternoon. Players from both teams got down on one knee. Campbell rushed to the scene where Hutchinson lay. The entire Lions bench emptied itself and joined teammates gathered near Hutchinson. As the cart drove into midfield, it was clear that even with support he wasn't going to get away with it.

    “These are tough moments,” said Campbell, who played 11 seasons in the NFL as a tight end. “It's hard for everyone. When you're standing there and that's one of you when something like that happens… Our guys did a good job, our coaches, of just refocusing them.”

    Refocus. This may seem a bit cruel. A comrade is transported away, and now it's your job to get him ready for football again as usual, with violent clashes and tug-of-war over a blade of grass.

    However, it is not cruel. The Lions reminded us that the ability to control the emotions triggered by Hutchinson's setback and then focus on the heat of the moment is a matter of survival. It comes with the duty of being a professional, albeit with an undeniable human element.

    No, they are not robots.

    “It’s tough,” Lions defensive tackle DJ Reader said. “Especially for someone who’s been there before. Not necessarily this injury, but you were lying on your back looking up at the ceiling. You kind of get emotional because you know what's important. You don't know what kind of fight you're going to face.

    “But I know as a team it’s been (shooting) our whole lives. For example, we can go to training and people get injured. It happens in games. So it's one of those things that you can click back on. I think there is a time to be human during the game. So we understand how to be human, then process it and get back to what we need to do.”

    Campbell knows. It was important for the Lions to remain aggressive after Hutchinson was carted away. This is cold, hard football mentality.

    “If you think about it too long, you get a little shy and then you get hurt,” Campbell said. “So our guys came right back in.”

    Now they face the challenge of dealing with the long-term loss of Hutchinson. After making it to the NFC title last season, Detroit is certainly well-equipped to make another legitimate push for the franchise's first Super Bowl berth. The mission has undoubtedly become much more difficult, but it is not impossible.

    “It's an unfortunate loss for us, a big, big blow for us,” said Montgomery, who rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday. “It’s more personal for us now.”

    The reader added: “You don’t really replace a player like that. You just hope other guys show up.”

    Notably, Hutchinson was injured on a big play when he sacked Dak Prescott for a 6-yard loss. It wasn't a particularly violent game that took him out. It appeared his leg collided with that of his linemate Alim McNeill as Hutchinson dragged Prescott to the ground with him as he fell awkwardly to the turf.

    By the way, Prescott suffered a similar injury in 2020, with a compound fracture to his right ankle.

    “It's obviously hard to watch,” Prescott said, “when you've experienced it and know where he is at that moment.” I hated it. I hated everything.”

    Prescott made a point to say a few words of encouragement before Hutchinson was carted off.

    “I just told him to keep his head up,” Prescott said.

    When Prescott thinks back to the moments after his own injury, he's not even sure Hutchinson heard him.

    “When you’re in it, it’s a blur,” Prescott said.

    He'll get Hutchinson's phone number from one of the Michigan boys on the Cowboys and get back in touch with more encouragement in due course. Prescott hasn't forgotten how a particular book he received, “Relentless,” strengthened his mindset during his recovery. So he plans to do the same with Hutchinson and may share the book.

    Prescott expects Hutchinson to bounce back, with the injury setback marking another chapter in his journey.

    “The guy he seems to be when you don’t know him, he’ll be better after this,” Prescott predicted. “I know it’s probably hard to imagine right now. I just told him, it's part of his story.

    “A great player,” he added. “I mean, he did it with a sack. So groundbreaking.”

    For the Lions right now, this is certainly more than just one thing.

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    Kathleen William
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