Before returning to action on Sunday, January 5, Detroit Lions star Alex Anzalone showed off the gruesome journey it took to get there. 

Hours prior to the team’s Sunday Night Football showdown with the Minnesota Vikings at Detroit’s Ford Field, Anzalone, 30, posted a picture via his Instagram Story of his broken forearm post-surgery. 

“Everyone wants to be a dog, until you have to do some dog s—,” Anzalone wrote alongside a picture of his stitched-up left arm. 

Anzalone broke his left forearm after colliding  with teammate Brian Branch’s helmet in the Lions’ November 17 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars. 

Gregory Shamus/Getty Images It was a stressful, nausea-inducing night for fans of the Detroit Lions — and one of their players, too.  After the Lions’ dramatic 34-31 victory over the Green Bay Packers in Detroit on Thursday, December 5, head coach Dan Campbell gave a rousing postgame speech in the Ford Field locker room as […]

According to the Detroit Free Press, Anzalone has a metal plate under the scar on his forearm. Anzalone underwent surgery one week after he sustained the injury.

He returned to the lineup on Sunday, six weeks after surgery, to help the Lions defeat the Vikings 31-9 and earn the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC and a first-round bye in the playoffs. They also clinched the NFC North division for the second season in a row. 

“Any time you get hurt or deal with adversity, mindset-wise it’s an opportunity to grow,” Anzalone told reporters after the game. “I feel like I’ve grown in different ways. You get the game taken away from you, and when you come back, it’s a blessing to play again.”

After missing the Lions six previous games, Anzalone said the win over the Vikings was “a statement.” Detroit head coach Dan Campbell praised his returning linebacker for the jolt his presence gave the team. 

“His return was huge,” Campbell, 48, told reporters. “Look, I’ve said it before, he’s really our quarterback on defense. There’s a lot of confidence he brings, a lot of energy. He can calm the storms. I thought it was going to take him a minute to work himself back in, and it didn’t take long at all. He was back to what he was before he got injured.”

When Anzalone returned from the game, he shared a message his wife, Lindsey Anzalone, had written on a dry erase board for him. 

Detroit Lions running back David Montgomery had a good reason for hilariously picking up a carrot instead of a turkey leg after the Lions’ Thanksgiving Day victory.  Montgomery, 27, was spotted by CBS cameras gnawing on a celebratory carrot instead of the customary turkey after the Lions’ 23-20 win over the Chicago Bears on Thursday, […]

“Welcome home!” Lindsey wrote, in a photo Alex posted via his Instagram Story. “We are so proud of you!”

Alex captioned the photo, “My why ❤️.”

The couple, who got married in June 2019, share two children: son Cooper, 3, and daughter Carter, 14 months. 

After their first-round bye, Anzalone and the Lions will return to action during the NFL Divisional Playoffs, which kick off Saturday, January 18, as Detroit attempts to win their first Super Bowl in franchise history.