ARLINGTON – Lions star pass rusher Aidan Hutchinson suffered a broken tibia Sunday while sacking Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott.

Hutchinson was carried off the field and underwent emergency surgery at a local hospital.

The injury reminded some of Prescott's own serious injury when he broke his leg while climbing in 2020.

“Obviously, like you said, it's hard to watch when you've experienced it and you know where he is at that moment,” Prescott said. “I hated it. I hated everything. But at first I just told him to keep his head up. It's part of the story. I promise, the way this guy started his career, the guy he seems to be when you don't know him, he'll be better afterward. I know it's probably hard to imagine right now. Then the last part, I just told him it was part of the story. It's part of his history. A damn good player. I mean, hell, he did it in one sack.”

Prescott said that when he sustained the injury while being tackled by the Giants' Logan Ryan, the two agreed on what happened. Ryan sent Prescott encouraging books about late NBA star Kobe Bryant and another called “Relentless” by Michael Jordan.

“He gave me some words of encouragement,” Prescott said of Ryan. “But again, when you’re in that (moment), it’s a blur. It's blurry. So I don't even know if you heard them. I don't care if he heard them. I understand where he was, but it was Logan's tutoring to me that meant the most to me, and I will do the same. Maybe it’s even about passing on or sharing the same book he shared with me.”

When Hutchinson went down, almost the entire Lions team, along with several Cowboys players, came onto the field to check on him. Lions defensive coordinator and former Cowboys defensive back Aaron Glenn was one of the last to approach the cart as it slowly left the field.

“I mean, it was extremely tragic,” guard/tackle Tyler Smith said. “Of course we’re all competitors, but at the end of the day this is someone’s son, someone’s brother, someone’s friend. He is a great football player. This is a great loss not only for himself, his family and the Lions, but also for football.”

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