T.J. Lang excited for workouts after first surgery-free offseason in 3 years

At age 30, Detroit Lions guard T.J. Lang has had some rough offseason in recent memory. Injuries have cut his offseason program in half for the past few years, and although his level of play has remained high—he made the Pro Bowl in both 2016 and 2017—injuries have slowly become a more common occurrence for the veteran lineman.

In 2017, Lang suffered several injuries that caused him to miss three games over the season. However, Lang revealed on Thursday that none of them will impede his ability to participate in offseason workouts this year.

“Luckily for me, all the injuries I had last year, I didn’t need any surgeries or anything. I just needed a little bit of time to rest,” Lang said. In fact, by February he said he was already feeling “pretty good.”

That comes as welcome news for Lang, who has had offseason surgery in back-to-back offseason in 2016 and 2017. Now he’ll be entering his first offseason workout in three years.

“Last year was hip surgery, the year before that was shoulder surgery,” Lang said. “I’m not making any big predictions here, but this is the first time I’ve done an offseason workout in three years, so I’m definitely excited about that.”

A healthier Lang is great news for a Detroit Lions offensive line that struggled to stay on the field last year. According to Football Outsiders, the Lions’ starting offensive line had the second-worst continuity of any team since 1999, starting 12 different players in 12 different configurations throughout the course of the year. As a result, the Lions were one of the worst teams at running the ball and protecting the quarterback last season.

But Lang has a positive outlook going forward. “It’s a new day, it’s a new year, we’re ready to turn the clock forward.”