Aidan Hutchinson was carted off the field Sunday during the Detroit Lions' game against the Cowboys, suffering an injury so gruesome broadcasters refused to replay it.
The injury happened when Hutchinson sacked Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott. Video footage appeared to show Hutchinson's leg hit by teammate Alim McNeill during the sack.
The Fox broadcast stopped showing replays of the injury, deeming it to be too gruesome.
Aidan Hutchinson is down after the previous play. pic.twitter.com/1l1kTN7Blb
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) October 13, 2024
Hutchinson was surrounded by players from both teams as he was transported to the locker room. He was deemed "out" for the game with a lower leg injury at the time.
Video footage of the injury was ultimately posted on social media, shocking many viewers.
Sports
Jeff Mueller, a doctor of physical therapy, tweeted a clip calling it a "brutal injury."
"Often see these in MMA with the shin block during leg kicks," he wrote.
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According to NBC News, Lions coach Dan Campbell said Hutchinson underwent immediate surgery at a Dallas-area hospital for a fractured tibia.
"He's in good hands right now. He's being taken care of," Campbell said during a postgame news conference. "He'll stay back here. Obviously he's going to be down for a little while. It's hard when you lose somebody like him, but we'll know a lot more after this."
The Lions won the game 47-9. Members of the defense dedicated their victory to Hutchinson.
"We know how much Hutch means to this team, to this defense alone. He's a tone-setter and to see him go down like that... you ain't never wish that on none of us … we all knew we had to do it for Hutch," Brian Branch said after the game.
"It's really tough. He was a guy who was a part of the heartbeat of this team - a leader, does everything right, a great teammate," Lions QB Jared Goff said. "He's everything you want in a player and teammate and to have him go down like that and be visibly upset, it's tough for all of us. He will be fine. He's gonna come back eventually, whenever that may be, but knowing him he will be fine and he will bounce back."
Where is your tibia?
According to the Cleveland Clinic, the tibia, or shin bone, is second longest bone in your body.
"It plays an important role in how you stand, move and keep your balance," the clinic stated, adding that they usually only break from "serious traumas" such as car accidents.
It the bigger of the two bones located in the lower legs, with the other called the fibula, also known as the calf bone.
"The tibia runs from just under your knee to your ankle," the clinic reported. "It’s closer to the inside of your body (medial) than the fibula."
How hard is it to break your tibia?
"Because it’s so strong, it usually takes a severe trauma like a fall or car accident to break your tibia," the Cleveland Clinic wrote.
But while high-collision injuries can result in fractures, so can sports injuries, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons reports.
"Sports injuries, such as a fall while skiing or a collision with another player during soccer, are lower-energy injuries that can cause tibial shaft fractures. These fractures are typically caused by a twisting force and result in an oblique or spiral fracture," the group stated.
Treating a tibial fracture
Fractures of the tibia often require surgery to repair the bone and physical therapy to regain strength, experts note.
Most such fractures take between four and six months to heal completely, the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons stated, though some can take longer.
