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The Detroit Lions were close to getting star edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson back on the field late last season, but an early playoff exit quashed the plans.

Now, the team’s new defensive coordinator is hinting at a bigger return in 2025. The team’s top defensive player was lost to a fractured leg in October, leading the pass rush to struggle for the remainder of the season, but a statement from Kelvin Sheppard is drumming up new hope in Detroit.

Aidan Hutchinson is ‘Back’
Sheppard earned a promotion to defensive coordinator after Aaron Glenn left to take a head coaching job with the New York Jets, and sounds excited for the defense he has inherited. The Lions had one of the league’s most aggressive defenses last season, even after losing Hutchinson and a series of other key players.

Sheppard shared an encouraging update on Hutchinson, who has been going through individual workouts while the team nears the mandatory portion of its offseason activities. The defensive coordinator told Dave Birkett of the Detroit Free Press that he could tell from Hutchinson’s workouts that his leg is back to full form.

“I went over there in individual and I said, ‘Look, you know how I know you’re back?’ He’s like, ‘How?’” Sheppard said. “I said, ‘Because you’re touching that ground when you run that hoop.’ And that’s this little thing he does like he’s some supernatural cat, which he is. But I’m like, ‘That’s how I know you’re back, Big Dog.’ ”

Defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers shared the assessment, adding that Hutchinson put in a lot of work to return to the field.

“He looks really good,” Rodgers said, via the Detroit Football Network. “I’m sitting here just imagining what this guy went through, what he worked on to get back in case they made it to the end last year and didn’t. Then to see where he is right now is just, this guy, he’s a trooper pro.”

Lions head coach Dan Campbell hinted that Hutchinson could have returned for the Super Bowl if the team advanced that far last season, but the early playoff exit allowed him to instead focus on rehabbing to prepare for the 2025 season.

Lions Missed Aidan Hutchinson Badly
The Lions struggled to generate consistent pressure on opposing quarterbacks after Hutchinson went down in October. Though Hutchinson only appeared in five games before his gruesome injury in a win over the Dallas Cowboys, no other player came close to matching his 7.5 sacks. Midseason acquisition Za’Darius Smith added 4.0 sacks, but no other player had more than 3.5.

Though the Lions were able to make up for Hutchinson’s injury and finish the year tied with the Kansas City Chiefs with a league-best 15-2 record, they fell short in a playoff loss to the Washington Commanders. The Lions struggled to contain rookie quarterback Jayden Daniels, failing to sack him once as the Commanders scored 45 points.

The Lions could look for more help in the coming season, with some insiders suggesting that Smith could return to the team after his release earlier this year.
Nathan Dougherty is a sports reporter covering the NFL for Heavy.com, with a focus on the Buffalo Bills, Detroit Lions and Miami Dolphins. Previously he wrote for the Rochester Business Journal and served as the assistant editor of athletic trade magazines Coaching Management, Athletic Management and Training & Conditioning. He is based out of Rochester, New York, and loves everything football. More about Nathan Dougherty