Before returning to action on Sunday, January 5, Detroit Lions star Alex Anzalone showed off the gruesome journey it took to get there. 

Hours prior to the team’s Sunday Night Football showdown with the Minnesota Vikings at Detroit’s Ford Field, Anzalone, 30, posted a picture via his Instagram Story of his broken forearm post-surgery. 

“Everyone wants to be a dog, until you have to do some dog s—,” Anzalone wrote alongside a picture of his stitched-up left arm.

Anzalone broke his left forearm after colliding  with teammate Brian Branch’s helmet in the Lions’ November 17 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

According to the Detroit Free Press, Anzalone has a metal plate under the scar on his forearm. Anzalone underwent surgery one week after he sustained the injury.

He returned to the lineup on Sunday, six weeks after surgery, to help the Lions defeat the Vikings 31-9 and earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC and a first-round bye in the playoffs. They also clinched the NFC North division for the second season in a row. 

“Any time you get hurt or deal with adversity, mindset-wise it’s an opportunity to grow,” Anzalone told reporters after the game. “I feel like I’ve grown in different ways. You get the game taken away from you, and when you come back, it’s a blessing to play again.”

After missing the Lions six previous games, Anzalone said the win over the Vikings was “a statement.” Detroit head coach Dan Campbell praised his returning linebacker for the jolt his presence gave the team. 

“His return was huge,” Campbell, 48, told reporters. “Look, I’ve said it before, he’s really our quarterback on defense. There’s a lot of confidence he brings, a lot of energy. He can calm the storms. I thought it was going to take him a minute to work himself back in, and it didn’t take long at all. He was back to what he was before he got injured.”

When Anzalone returned from the game, he shared a message his wife, Lindsey Anzalone, had written on a dry erase board for him.