On Oct. 11, 2020, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott suffered a gruesome lower leg injury in the third quarter of a game against the New York Giants. Detroit Lions star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson suffered a similarly horrific injury when sacking Prescott on Sunday in the third quarter of their matchup just over four years later.
“Having experienced it, knowing where he is in that moment, hated it, hated it for him, hated every bit of it,” Prescott said after the game. “But for me initially, I just told him (to) keep his head up, it’s part of the story I promise. The way that this guy started his career, the guy that he seems be, not knowing him, he’ll be better after it. I know that’s probably hard to imagine right now.”
Prescott was seen talking to Hutchinson multiple times while he was down. That type of gut-wrenching injury is rare, there’s not many people who could give Hutchinson perspective in that moment as well as Prescott could.
“Being honest with you, I’ll probably get (Hutchinson’s) number, I know I will from one of the Michigan guys in the locker room and reach out again,” Prescott said. “I remember my guy Logan (Ryan), he gave me some words of encouragement. But once you’re in that (situation) it’s blurry … But it was Logan’s follow up to me that meant the most. I’ll do the same, maybe it’s even passing and sharing the same book that (Ryan) shared with me.”
At the time of Prescott’s injury Logan Ryan was a safety for the Giants. He suffered a broken fibula two seasons before when he was playing for the Tennessee Titans. The two books he passed along for Prescott were Kobe Bryant’s autobiography “The Mamba Mentality: How I Play,” and “Relentless: From Good to Great to Unstoppable” by Tim Grover.
In 2020 Prescott was off to a historic start. His 1,690 passing yards remain the most of all time for a quarterback’s first four games of a season. Prescott missed the rest of the year after his injury, but came back in 2021 with his best season as a pro to that point. As awful as the injury was, Prescott fought back from it and has only improved since.
Hutchinson’s 7.5 sacks were the most of any NFL player, he was a frontrunner to win Defensive Player of the Year. The 2022 second overall pick was building off a 11.5-sack Pro Bowl season in 2023 and already looks like one of the NFL’s elite edge rushers in his third season.
“Hell, he did it going out on a sack,” Prescott said. “Game changer, wish him the best on his recovery. I know it’s going to be a mental challenge as much as it is physical.”
While there’s no reports on Hutchinson’s injury timetable, Lions coach Dan Campbell told reporters after the game that “he’ll be down for a little while.” ESPN’s Adam Schefter said the team is calling it a broken tibia.
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