FRISCO – It was four years ago when Dak Prescott fractured and dislocated his right ankle in a home game in Week 5 of the 2020 season, an injury so gruesome that there was a broken bone breaking through his skin.
Fast-forward to the Detroit Lions recent visit to AT&T Stadium in which they pounded the Cowboys 47-9 … but sustained a horrible loss as Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson was about to bring down Prescott for a sack, but then found his leg tangled with a teammate’s, causing him to sustain a broken tibia and fibula.
Conventional medical wisdom? Such an injury would figure to keep Hutchinson out for the remainder of the season.
But a recent report about Hutchinson’s rehab could give Detroit some hope of a Super Bowl-time recovery. And maybe the supportive words of colleagues like Prescott – five words in particular – are providing some inspiration.
“I just told him to keep his head up,” Prescott said of his on-field message to Hutchinson as the pass-rusher was being loaded onto a medical cart and on his way to the hospital. “It’s part of the story.I promise, the way that this guy started his career, the guy he seems to be, not knowing him, he’ll be better after it. I know it’s probably hard to imagine right now. Then the last part, I just told him, it’s part of the story. It’s part of his story.”
That is a common Prescott life theme, through all of his ups and downs: “It’s part of my story.” And maybe Hutchinson’s story is about to have a quicker-than-expected happy ending as ESPN is reporting he has “a realistic chance” to return for the Lions in the Feb. 9 Super Bowl if they do indeed advance to The Big Game.
Coach Dan Campbell revealed earlier in the week that Hutchinson was moving onto the injured reserve, with a recovery process that could take four to six months. And again, that is conventional and that seems realistic.
But the dangling of the carrot is important in rehab cases like this. There need to be goals that push the patient/athlete to achieve. In the case of Hutchinson – the No. 2 pick in the 2022 NFL Draft who has proven himself to be elite – he’d already totaled 7.5 sacks in the early season for the 4-1 Lions – he is an achiever. And with positivity from the likes of been-there/done-that colleagues like Prescott? Maybe the Super Bowl is achievable, too.
