Aidan Hutchinson set the Detroit Lions’ rookie record with three sacks in the team’s 37-26 victory over the Washington Commanders last Sunday. That’s great and all, but his position coach was left wanting more.
“This game, he was in position to make the plays he did, for the most part,” defensive line coach Todd Wash said. “I still think he left about two or three sacks out there. That’s kind of the big thing we talked about is you’ve got to make the plays that you are capable of making. It would have really been an impressive game had he done that.”
For context, only one Lions player has recorded more than four sacks in a game since the stat became official in 1982. William Gay racked up a franchise-record 5.5 in an 11-0 win over Tampa Bay in 1983.
Additionally, Hutchinson owes his teammates some credit for each of this three sacks. The first and third were the result of Washington quarterback Carson Wentz being flushed from the pocket by another defender. It was linebacker Chris Board’s blitz that had Wentz looking to scramble on the first of Hutchinson’s three sacks and Charles Harris’ inside move that funneled the quarterback backwards into Hutchinson, who had overrun the pocket with a wide rush.
As for the second sack, Hutchinson came through clean on a stunt, dropping Wentz in the blink of an eye, but that lane existed because of the efforts of John Cominsky to absorb a second blocker, according to Wash.
“We’ve been running that game for the last year and a half here, and with how he played it and what he did, that allowed Hutch to get the sack,” Wash said.
Hutchinson was absent from practice on Wednesday, dealing with a thigh injury suffered in the second half of Sunday’s game. Coach Dan Campbell said earlier in the week said the shot Hutchinson took in the game caused a Charley horse.
Not that Hutchinson needed the prodding to shake it off to finish Sunday’s game, but Wash was there to give him a pep talk anyway.
“He came over, he was limping and I said, ‘Listen, that’s a long ways away from your heart. We’ve got a lot of game remaining,'” Wash said.
Hutchinson is expected to be good to go for Detroit’s upcoming game against Minnesota. The Vikings have allowed just three sacks through the first two weeks of the season.
jdrogers@detroitnews.com
Twitter: @Justin_Rogers