Detroit Lions DE Josh Paschal is “ready to get back after it,” after dealing with a health scare for the past two weeks.
Detroit Lions defensive lineman Josh Paschal has missed the last two games with an illness, but is ready to get back to practicing and is focused on Sunday in Houston as a target for returning to game action.
In 2018, Paschal had a malignant melanoma removed from his foot while attending the University of Kentucky. He missed a full year of football as he battled his way through that difficult process, and thankfully has remained cancer-free for the last five years. Recently, though, during his yearly cancer checkup up, Paschal’s doctors discovered a small non-cancerous mass in his shoulder that would require surgery to remove it.
“I just have yearly checkups I have to go to,” Paschal told the media on Wednesday. “They found a little, small mass in my shoulder and I just had to deal with that. It was nothing cancerous, thankfully. Praise God for that. I was hoping just to be out for a week, but it wasn’t something you could really bounce back from in a week, so it just took two. I’m thankful to be back now, to be able to help this team.”
Paschal was hoping to return for the Packers game last Sunday, but it took a bit longer than expected to gain enough strength back in his shoulder in order to play the game at a safe level.
“Just getting the strength back and being able to make sure I can protect myself when I go out there,” Paschal explained. “But I’m fully confident now to be able to go out there and perform to the best of my abilities.”
Paschal is on track to play on Sunday, which should give the Lions a significant upgrade on the edge, especially with newly acquired Za’Darius Smith also expected to see game action.
“I can’t even put it into words. I’m just ready to get back after it,” Paschal concluded. “It’s a big game to come back to, ‘Sunday Night Football,’ but it’s just like any other game, as well. I’m just ready to go back and help my team.”
