Detroit Lions head coach Dan Campbell thinks edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson is ready to elevate his game even higher.
Hutchinson exploded last year in his comeback from a season-ending injury in 2024. Campbell and Hutchinson both told reporters Tuesday that a full offseason has prepared him for another leap.
“I think he’s in a really good spot right now,” Campbell said. “He’s always been, in my opinion, a complete defensive end, and he’s elevated that once again. I think last year what he was able to do coming off the injury he had was impressive. It was impressive, ‘cause that’s a significant injury.”
Hutchinson suffered a fractured tibia and fibula in his left leg midway through the 2024 season, which required surgery and ultimately ended his season. Hutchinson was one of 13 defensive contributors who went down with injuries in the ill-fated 2024 season.
He returned from the injury with a vengeance in 2025, posting career highs in total tackles (54), tackles for loss (14), quarterback hits (35), sacks (14.5), and forced fumbles (4); he also had 3 pass defenses and an interception, which he returned for 58 yards.
“For him to be able to come back as quick as he did, and be able to have the impact he did, was impressive,” said Campbell. “Well, he just got another year of a full offseason training. The quickness, the weight, the explosion—he’s always continued to grow his craft, and so I think he’s prepped to have another big year.”
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Having a full offseason to train, Hutchinson agreed with Campbell’s assessment.
“I feel great, man,” he said. “I feel like I got a lot better this camp, I really do. Your game evolves, and going against the talented guys that we have, you do really get better, and so I feel really confident right now. I feel good, and I feel like I’ve got everything in my repertoire to get it done this year.”
What specifically has he done to achieve those improvements in his game?
“Not a ton,” he said. “At this stage, it’s more like very little things, like a little difference in angle, a difference in body lean, a difference in maybe how I’m clearing a rush. Like it’s kind of—I don’t know. It’s the details. It feels big in my head, but when you look at it from like from a wide lens, it’s not that earth-shattering, but it’s those little 1 percent tweaks that you make that ultimately allow you to ascend.”
At this stage of his game, it’s less of a physical adjustment and more of a mental one.
“It’s figuring it out, it’s praying on it, it’s sitting there and meditating on it, and that’s what I do,” he said. “Cause there’s some days where you feel better, some days where you’re feeling like you’re a little stuck, where you’ve got to sit on it and go, ‘okay, hey, what was I doing? What’s not going to work? What do I have to stick with?’ I get a lot of answers when I can kind of pray about it, you know, and really sit and think about it.”
Hutchinson has been a mentor of sorts to rookie right tackle Blake Miller, working against him in practice (and even starring in an advertisement for Head and Shoulders shampoo with Miller). Campbell said that the reps against Hutchinson and fellow edge rusher DJ Wonnum will help acclimate him to the NFL, especially since he faces a rusher with a similar style and pedigree on Sunday when Chase Young and the New Orleans Saints come to town.
Hutchinson had high praise for his young teammate.
“It’s been great,” he said.
“Blake has done a really good job of—I feel like he doesn’t make the same mistake twice too often, which, I‘ll give him a weird look one time, and then I’ll do it again, and he’ll have adjusted the next time I do it.
“So, I think as a rookie O-lineman, that’s really all you can ask for, because they’re going to make mistakes, especially rookie tackles starting on day one. That’s tough living in the NFL, but if you can just get better each and every week, and I think he will, that’s really all you can do.”
