Lions edge rusher Aidan Hutchinson required immediate surgery for a fracture of his tibia, coach Dan Campbell said.
The team’s PR corrected Campbell and said it is not a compound fracture.
Hutchinson, the betting favorite for defensive player of the year, had a gruesome injury of his left leg with 11:43 remaining in the third quarter. He immediately knew the severity after a 6-yard sack of Dak Prescott.
Medical personnel worked on Hutchinson for a long time, finally putting his left leg in an air cast before loading him onto a cart. The cart went immediately to the tunnel where the ambulance is, rather than toward the X-ray room, and headed to a local trauma hospital.
“Hate it for Hutch. That’s tough,” Campbell said. “It was tough. He’s in good hands right now. He’s being taken care of. He’ll stay back here, and obviously he’s going to be down a little while, so that’s tough, and it’s hard when you lose somebody like him. We’ll know a lot more after this and obviously wish him the best.”
Hutchinson’s injury was bad enough that Fox did not show a replay of the injury.
Hutchinson made three tackles, a sack and three quarterback hits before departing, and he has 7.5 sacks this season.
The Lions beat the Cowboys 47-9.