ALLEN PARK — Aidan Hutchinson said he felt like his endurance was “cut a little bit” during warm-ups before Sunday’s loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers.
Hutchinson said he told defensive line coach Kacy Rodgers he might need to rotate in and out more based on that feeling. The star pass rusher, who was just named to his second Pro Bowl, said everything ended up fine out there, but he’s learned along the way that it’s OK to take a couple more breathers.
The 25-year-old remains among the top NFL workhorses at his position. He’s one of two NFL edge rushers to have played more than 800 snaps this season, and Hutchinson has been out there for 910 plays. Only Maxx Crosby (935) of the Las Vegas Raiders has been on the field rushing the passer more than the former Michigan standout.
“Yeah, you know, it’s tough, because they really leave it in my hands if I want to come out or not,“ Hutchinson said on Monday. ”So, if I feel like I can give it a good rush or a good run, stop, whatever that is, I’m gonna stay out there, and I’ll tell them I got one more. Despite the result of this play, I got one more.
“I think it has its benefits. But I like being out there because I feel like I train all offseason and prepare myself to go through games playing that many snaps.”
Before the last two weeks, Hutchinson had played more than 90% of the defensive snaps in 11 straight games. But he was down to 79.2% of the share in Los Angeles last week, and then played 82.4% of the defensive snaps this past Sunday against the Steelers.
Hutchinson has three sacks, two tackles for loss, one interception and seven pressures in those two games. He didn’t have a single sack across the two games before that, so the rotation certainly has its benefits, whether that was the intended goal or not.
Now, the Lions head to Minnesota to face the Vikings on Christmas. Dan Campbell said the Week 9 loss to Minnesota was their worst all-around showing of the season. Hutchinson had one sack and three tackles that day, as the defense allowed only 258 yards and just four third-down conversions on 12 tries.
MLive asked Hutchinson what helped him get to that point as one of the league’s top workhorses to be able to know when to communicate he needs a breather. Hutchinson pointed to former Lions defensive line coach Terrell Williams for helping him understand that.
“Who really did it for me was Terrell last year,” Hutchinson said. “Because he would always have me sit out, like, usually like the third series of every half, you know, just so you have your designated, like, reps off that you’re gonna get. But besides that, it’s kind of dependent on me. So. Yeah, I think he taught me a lot with that. So now, kind of basing it off that.”
Outside of last year’s injury-shortened season, Hutchinson has ranked among the leaders in snaps for edge rushers since entering the league in 2022. He led the position with 1,146 snaps in 2023 and ranked sixth as a rookie with 953 defensive snaps.
Hutchinson has 11.5 sacks and is tied for the league lead among all defensive players with 87 quarterback pressures in 15 games. He’s the game-wrecker the Lions need to get them through these next two games, and whether that’s by playing nearly all of the snaps or getting a couple extra breathers, he’s comfortable.
Edge rushers Marcus Davenport (40) and Al-Quadin Muhammad (30) saw a ton of playing time on Sunday, while Tyrus Wheat (11) saw double-digit snaps for the second straight week.
Detroit’s defense has been gashed all over the field for the last month. The run defense has surrendered 389 rushing yards and five touchdowns in the previous two games. And the pass coverage hasn’t been much better, with 300-plus yards allowed in three out of the last five games.
Hutchinson said he wants to see that improve. But he also knows the defense plays better when they’re having fun on the field. That’s not easy when giving up 2,293 yards of total offense in five games, but the 25-year-old views it as a key for this defense.
“Because I think it’s a simple thing, but it’s something that football in the NFL is a business, but you have to treat it like a fun game that you love in order for you to get the results,” Hutchinson said. “I don’t know if that makes sense, but I feel like the defenses I’ve been on, whenever we’re out there having fun, not just doing your job and executing, but you are having fun — You’re celebrating together. You’re jumping around like that, energy is very infectious, and we just got to get back to that.
“And we talk about it all the time too, so I think if we’re doing that, having fun, celebrating, making big plays — That’s gonna be a big, big one for us.”