Detroit Lions linebacker Alex Anzalone had quite the eventful week while his team was on the road facing off against the New Orleans Saints.
In a contest the veteran wanted to play in, having been drafted by the Saints back in 2017, the 29-year-old was recovering from surgery on his hand and welcoming his family's second child.
"Crazy week. Got hurt on Thanksgiving. Had surgery on Sunday," Anzalone explained to reporters. "And then, yeah, we induced on Wednesday. So it's been a tough, but a blessed week."
After missing the last week, Anzalone returned to practice Wednesday as a full participant, donning a custom hand brace.
"Every time you have to sit back and watch on the couch for a game, it's it's kind of gets you motivated. It kind of gets, you know, excited to go go back to work," Anzalone said. "And you know, we're definitely motivated as a defense to kind of get going here and start playing good football. We hear the outside noise to a certain extent. And we definitely want to prove those people wrong."
Observing on television, despite knowing the calls and game plan, still proved to be challenging, as it was difficult to decipher who would have been at fault on any given play, if mistakes were made.
"It's hard for me and I know. I came to the meetings on Thursday, Friday, Saturday. And I knew the calls. I knew what -- it's hard to see what calls we're in. It's hard to say who who has what responsibility. So, from a fan perspective, I guess it's hard to say, 'Oh, that's that guy's fault.' It's like for me, it was interesting."
Observing his teammates, Anzalone remained optimistic his squad could work to improve over the next five games.
"We have to limit points as a defense. That's the number one stat," said Anzalone. "And then obviously the red zone has to improve these next five games and going into the playoffs. This is when it has to happen. We have to come together as a unit and get it done. Figure out a way how to get it done.
"We're 9-3. We're in a good spot to win the division. We got really important games coming up. Even to place well, as far as seeding goes in the playoffs. So yeah, there's a sense of urgency, in that regard, from a whole team perspective as a whole defense," said Anzalone. "There's a race to improve every day. Really in the past, but these next five weeks are super important. This is when, because you never know if this is our opportunity to make a run at it. That's the urgency that needs to be had."
Pain tolerance will be the deciding factor this week if Detroit's defensive captain will take the field against the Bears in Week 14.
More must-reads: