{"id":822999,"date":"2026-03-20T12:16:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:16:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/822999\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T12:16:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:16:23","slug":"dj-wonnum-overcame-severe-medical-issues-before-joining-detroit-lions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/822999\/","title":{"rendered":"DJ Wonnum overcame severe medical issues before joining Detroit Lions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Lions <\/a>got an EDGE in free agency with the signing of DJ Wonnum<\/a>. He is a player that is healthy now, but had to overcome a serious medical issue in 2024 involving a MRSA infection and blood clots.<\/p>\n

Here are some excerpts from my analysis of Wonnum’s medical history and quad injury complications<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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(The following information and analysis is based on available public information. Age in parentheses is at start of 2026 season.)<\/p>\n

DJ Wonnum, EDGE (28)<\/p>\n

Contract: 1 year, $ pending<\/p>\n

Concern level 3\/10<\/p>\n

2025: 17\/18 games played.\u00a0Hip injury<\/a>, missed 1 game.<\/p>\n

2024: 8\/17 games. Missed first 9 games of season in recovery from complications of left quad injury.<\/p>\n

Wonnum\u2019s quad injury was significant, but he has been very reliable since his recovery from complications of the quad surgery. He also has a significant ankle issue in his remote past but has proven himself for many years in the NFL since. His age is creeping up (29 in October) but is fine for a 1-year free agent.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s dive into Wonnum\u2019s quad injury\u2026<\/p>\n

What is the timeline of Wonnum\u2019s quad injury and complications?<\/p>\n

Here is the link to the video of DJ Wonnum discussing his quad injury complications<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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I have put together an estimated timeline based on Wonnum\u2019s statements. Starting at the beginning\u2026<\/p>\n

December 24, 2023: Partially torn left quad. Surgery within days.<\/p>\n

The surgical stitches were rejected by his body and required another surgery to address the issue.<\/p>\n

May\/June 2024: Developed MRSA infection in quad which required a 3rd surgery.<\/p>\n

June 2024: PICC line was placed for 6 weeks to deliver intravenous (IV) antibiotics daily to combat MRSA infection.<\/p>\n

July 2024: The PICC line caused blood clots.<\/p>\n

Given anticoagulant medication to treat the blood clots.<\/p>\n

October 2024: Discontinued the anticoagulants.<\/p>\n

November 10, 2024: Returned to play after missing first nine games of the season.<\/p>\n

Now, let\u2019s break down the medical details\u2026<\/p>\n

What problems did Wonnum have with the sutures?<\/p>\n

The sutures that likely caused the problem were the absorbable type that are buried under the skin. Wonnum likely had an inflammatory, foreign-body reaction to the sutures, which can cause redness and pus discharge. This necessitated surgery to address the issue.<\/p>\n

What is MRSA?<\/p>\n

MRSA stands for methicillin-resistant staph aureus, which is a bacteria that has become a very common cause of skin infections over the past 2+ decades. These kind of skin infections can develop into severe abscesses and need urgent medical attention.<\/p>\n

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A MRSA skin infection is one of the most commonly treated medical issues at an urgent care clinic. As an urgent care doctor, I have treated MRSA infections countless number of times by performing procedures to drain the infection and\/or initiating antibiotics. Due to MRSA\u2019s resistance to some antibiotics, the selection of the proper antibiotic is critical.<\/p>\n

Wonnum developed a MRSA skin infection at the surgical site in the quad which likely required surgical incision to drain the infection.<\/p>\n

For more on the PICC line, blood clots, anticoagulants, and Wonnum’s outlook for 2026, read my full story here.<\/a><\/p>\n

For more\u00a0Lions<\/a>\u00a0coverage, follow us on X,\u00a0@TheLionsWire<\/a>, and give our\u00a0Facebook<\/a>\u00a0page a like.\u00a0Follow Jimmy on X,\u00a0@JimmyLiaoMD<\/a><\/p>\n

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This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: DJ Wonnum overcame severe medical issues before joining Detroit Lions<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Lions got an EDGE in free agency with the signing of DJ Wonnum. He is a player…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":823000,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2071],"tags":[31486,114167,146,113,2506,113605,7,147,37278,114166,6,20783],"class_list":["post-822999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-detroit-lions","tag-blood-clots","tag-complications","tag-detroit","tag-detroit-lions","tag-detroitlions","tag-dj-wonnum","tag-football","tag-lions","tag-medical-issue","tag-mrsa-infection","tag-nfl","tag-quad-injury"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116261459496793975","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=822999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/822999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/823000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=822999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=822999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=822999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}