ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- It didn't take long for new Detroit Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard to reach a conclusion about returning star Aidan Hutchinson, even after coming off his season-ending leg injury in 2024.
"Listen I'm not saying anything about numbers, statistics or any of that. But, I see a better player than we had last year," Sheppard said of Hutchinson. "And you might be like, 'Woah.' Like, that's the same thing I said when I saw him out there. I'm like, 'woah.'"
But to those who know how purposefully Hutchinson attacked his rehab, Sheppard's assessment shouldn't be surprising. For the past nine months, Hutchinson said he has been training with the mindset of not only rehabbing but coming back to the field better than he was before. And that improvement has shown in the first days of training camp; he's moving aggressively around the practices with no restrictions.
"Football has been feeling normal for a long time now," Hutchinson said on Friday. "I would say first day of OTAs, I got kicked, stepped on, everything under the sun on this leg and after practice I got up and I was like, 'all right, we're good.' And I think it takes those physical things to happen to you to mentally kind of solidify where you're at and the confidence and moving past it."
Hutchinson has always had a goal of establishing himself as one of the league's elite edge rushers. That hasn't changed, either. Prior to suffering a fractured tibia and fibula injury in Week 6 at Dallas, the 2020 No. 2 pick was an early frontrunner to win the NFL Defensive Player of the Year award after leading the league in sacks, pressures and pass rush win rate at that point of the season.
He was chasing the single-season sack record of 22.5 held by Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt and, though early in the season, appeared to have a legitimate shot.
"I'm at a point now in my career where it's like you're shooting for the stars every year and if that's not the expectation and standard that you put to yourself ... it's gotta be that way," Hutchinson said. "So, from here on out, those first couple years you're getting in the league and figuring it out, but now it's every year the standard is what it is."
"Monster," is the term that Lions quarterback Jared Goff used to describe Hutchinson this summer. While competing against him and the defense early on in camp, Goff has noticed him "flying."
"Looks great," Goff said. "I'm excited about what he can do."
The challenge for Hutchinson now is to remain healthy -- to see if he can continue to take those hits in camp while maintaining the mentality that his leg is no longer a concern.
Sheppard feels Detroit's joint practices against Miami and Houston in August will be a good test drive, primarily because the setting isn't as controlled.
"I see a better player quite frankly and I'm looking for Hutch to have a big season and he's one of the pillars of the defense," Sheppard said.