Stephen Tulloch practices on Day 1 of OTAs

On Sept. 21, 2014, Detroit Lions linebacker Stephen Tulloch tore the ACL in his left knee. 10 days later, on Oct. 1, Tulloch had surgery to repair his injury. And now, on May 26, 2015, Tulloch returned to the field as the Lions' middle linebacker on the first day of OTAs, according to the team's official site.

To make this news even better, Tulloch apparently was able to practice without any limitations. This gave him a chance to fully jump back in as the Lions' middle linebacker. From the team's official site:

"I’m doing everything," he said. "I’m able to run around and make calls and make checks and get back to being a middle linebacker."

In three games last season, Tulloch had 20 tackles and 2.0 sacks. He seemed to fit really well in Teryl Austin's scheme, but we really only got a preview of that considering Tulloch tore his ACL on a sack celebration gone wrong in Week 3.

The Lions still ended up having one of the NFL's top defenses even after losing Tulloch, partly because Tahir Whitehead stepped up big time in his place. Getting a healthy Tulloch back this year is important, though, and if he can play like he did at the start of last season, that will really help the Lions make up for their losses at the defensive tackle position. Whitehead was good, but having Tulloch back in the middle and being able to deploy Whitehead at the strongside spot should serve as an upgrade for the Lions' linebacking corps in 2015.