The family of Aidan Hutchinson have urged fans to keep the Detroit Lions defensive star in their prayers after he suffered a sickening injury Sunday.
Hutchinson, the NFL’s sack leader, suffered a horrific broken leg during the third quarter of the Lions’ blowout win over the Dallas Cowboys.
His left tibia appeared to snap above the ankle when he collided with the left leg of teammate Alim McNeill while attempting to tackle Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.
Hutchinson underwent immediate surgery after being rushed to hospital in the Dallas area.
Following the horrific incident, Hutchinson’s older sister, Mia, broke her silence with a simple and emotional four-word message on social media.
‘Please pray for Aidan,’ she posted to her Instagram story, alongside a photo of the defensive end suited up for Detroit.
The post was also shared to the House of Hutch’s Instagram account, which was founded by the NFL star and regularly features his family – parents, Chris and Melissa, and his older sisters, Mia, who also works as his social media manager, and Aria, a former Miss Michigan USA.
Hutchinson was in visible pain Sunday evening, wincing as he fell to the ground, while the damage to his tibia bone was obvious on replays.
There was a delay of about 10 minutes as medical personnel tended to Hutchinson while players from both teams made a large circle around the second overall pick in the 2022 draft.
After Hutchinson was loaded onto a cart with a cast on his leg, teammates and Dallas players reached over to pat the 24-year-old.
Speaking about his player after the game, Lions head coach Dan Campbell said: ‘That’s tough. You know, it was tough. And he’s in good hands right now, he’s being taken care of.
‘He’ll stay back here (in Dallas). You know, obviously he’s going to be down for a while. So that’s tough, man.
‘It’s hard when you lose somebody like him. But we’ll know a lot more after this and obviously wish him the best.
‘It’s hard for everybody when you’re standing there and that’s one of yours and something like that happens.
‘If you dwell on that too much and you start playing a little timid, that’s when you get hurt. So guys snapped right back in and they lived in the moment where we’re on.’
FOX refused to show replays of the incident while former NFL star JJ Watt posted on social media that the injury was ‘horrific’.
The Lions were leading 34-6 at the time of the injury to Hutchinson, who entered the game as the NFL leader in sacks with 6.5.
Hutchinson had the third Detroit sack of the game, which will be his last of the 2024 season just six weeks into the campaign.
The Lions managed to rally in the wake of the horrific injury to their teammate as they claimed a thumping 47-9 win over the Cowboys.
Jared Goff passed for 315 yards and three touchdowns while David Montgomery rushed for 80 yards and two touchdowns for the Lions, who have won three in a row.
Prescott passed for 178 yards and was intercepted twice, both by Brian Branch, as the Cowboys dropped to 0-3 in home games.
