Ahmed Hassanein pec injury update and recovery outlook

The Lions 6th-round rookie, Ahmed Hassanein, suffered a pec injury during the preseason game on August 16. This caused consternation for Lions fans who are hoping he can quickly turn into a productive, young, EDGE rusher opposite Aidan Hutchinson.

PEC INJURY VIDEO - August 16

THE CONCERN

Any kind of pec injury raises concern for a full rupture that would require surgery and potentially cost him the season.

Fortunately, good news was delivered by Hassanein himself two days later when he posted that no surgery is needed for his pec. This implies he did not have a complete pec rupture but rather a partial tear - which can also be called a strain.

THE RETURN TIMELINE

Hassanein's timeline is highly variable depending on severity and location of the tear. A tear of the pec muscle body would be favorable. A tear of the pec tendon or the muscle-tendon junction is more worrisome and would warrant a more conservative timeline as those locations are where full ruptures almost always occur. Nobody wants to risk a partial tear turning into a complete tear.

A retrospective study (Sahota et al) done in 2020 of NFL players found 132 pec strains (grade 1/2 partial tears) from 2000-2014. The average return-to-play for these players was 28 days.

• In 2024, Frank Ragnow last season returned in just 3 weeks.
• In 2023, Marcus Williams returned in 4 weeks.
• In 2022, TJ watt returned in 9 weeks.

The bottom line is that Hassanein's return could be anywhere from 3 weeks (September) to 3 months (November).

THE NEXT SIGNAL

The next big action the Lions will need to decide on is whether to put Hassanein on the IR-to-return list at the cutdown date - August 26. The Lions theoretically could waive him but that is not going to happen.

If Hassanein is not put on IR-to-return at the cutdown, that would be a favorable signal that he has a good chance to be ready in September.

If Hassanein is put on IR-to-return, that means the Lions don't expect him back anytime soon. Additionally, the roster management game comes into play which could extend his timeline. Since Hassanein is not (yet) a key member of the team, there is no big urgency to get him on the field. In this scenario, a return around November seems likely.

Keep in mind that the NFL allows 2 players to be placed on IR-to-return without counting towards the 53-man roster - effectively making it a 55-man roster. With only one week left until the cutdown date, Hassanein is the main obvious candidate to take one of those two spots - Morice Norris (concussion) and Trystan Colon (elbow) are possible others. Thus, there is a benefit for the Lions to take advantage of the rule to increase the protected roster size.

Taking everything into account, I would expect that Hassanein is placed on IR-to-return next week with a projected return around late-October or November.

This article originally appeared on Lions Wire: Lions DE Ahmed Hassanein pec injury update and recovery outlook