Alim McNeill was in the locker room the day following Detroit's playoff exit in the Divisional Round, cleaning out his locker and preparing for the offseason.
The fourth-year defensive tackle had a heavy brace protecting his surgically repaired ACL tear suffered Dec. 15 vs. Buffalo. The Lions extended McNeill to a four-year, $97 million contract this season that will keep him in Detroit through the 2028 season.
"I had no clue what it was, but I knew it was something a little fishy about it, how it was feeling at the time," McNeill said of the injury he suffered in loss to the Bills. "As far as the season cut short, it was definitely tough, 100 percent tough. This is the first time I've ever had a season-ending injury and first time having surgery so it was all new stuff to me."
As soon as the Lions were eliminated from the playoffs, McNeill said his focus immediately shifted to his rehab and coming back even stronger next season.
"Now that we're done, I gotta get back on the field as fast as I can," he said. "I'm not gonna rush or anything but I'm gonna push myself for sure."
McNeill didn't have a set timeline to get back to football activities, saying his plan is just to attack his rehab on a day-to-day basis. ACL injuries typically have around a nine-month recovery time so that would put McNeill in a position to think about returning sometime potentially in September or October in the first half of next season.
McNeill is certainly motivated to get back as soon as he can given the potential of Detroit's defensive front next season. He and DJ Reader are both under contract next season, providing the beef along the interior of Detroit's front.
Aidan Hutchinson will be back after breaking his leg Week 6 in Dallas and missing the rest of the season. Hutchinson was having an MVP-caliber season before the injury and will no-doubt be motivated to have a monster fourth season.
Because of the Hutchinson injury and the season-ending injury to fellow edge rusher Marcus Davenport (Week 3), Lions general manager Brad Holmes traded for veteran edge rusher Za’Darius Smith at the trade deadline. Smith had 4.0 sacks in nine games with Detroit and 9.0 total in 17 games in 2024, and he's under contract for 2025.
Along with some of their depth pieces and the likelihood they continue to add to the defensive line via free agency and the NFL Draft, it's easy to see why McNeill is excited about getting back and being part of what he thinks can be a really good defensive line in Detroit next season. Detroit finished seventh in scoring defense, fifth against the run and first in third-down efficiency this season, despite all the injuries on defense.
"It's tough. Not what anyone expected this year. We put in a lot of work and had goals set out for this year," McNeill said. "Things took a different turn, and we are here now. It happens. It's tough to swallow.
"We're just going to put in that much more work to get that more prepared. There's no blueprint to it. There's no hiding from it. You have to put in the work to get (to the Super Bowl) and that's what we're going to do.
"It's just going to continue to grow for us. We still have a fairly young squad and still have guys still coming into their form. I for sure see a great future for us."
