By Michael Stets
When healthy, Detroit Lions defensive end Ziggy Ansah is one of the team’s best defensive players, and without question, its best pass rusher. But last season was a rough one for Ansah, who missed time due to injury and wasn’t able to fully recover once he returned to action.
After suffering a high-ankle sprain in Week 2 against the Tennessee Titans, Ansah missed the next three games. Once he returned to the lineup in Week 6, the Ghana native was still on the mend, and thus not very effective on getting to the opposing team’s quarterback. He finished the season with two sacks, which paled in comparison to his Pro Bowl campaign of 2015 where he recorded 14.5.
“It wasn’t easy dealing with what I was dealing with,” Ansah told reporters in Allen Park after a workout last Tuesday.
With the lingering injury limiting his effectiveness for the remainder of the year, Ansah didn’t register his first sack of the season until a Week 15 loss against the New York Giants. He picked up his second sack the following week in a loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Monday Night Football. While it was a tough season to endure, and one he’s glad is behind him, Ansah showed his resolve, kept pushing forward and was able to raise his play in the last few weeks of the schedule.
Lions defensive coordinator Teryl Austin, who was a guest on “The Mitch Albom Show” on Wednesday from the fifth annual Taste of the Lions event at Ford Field, spoke about Ansah’s difficult 2016 season and praised the effort of his star defensive end.
“He gutted it out,” Austin told hosts Steve Courtney and Ken Brown. “He’s tough. I think when you watch maybe the last two or three games, the playoff game, the last couple of games, you really saw him [play well], he was the Ziggy that we know.”
In the NFC Wildcard game, a 26-6 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, Ansah played his best game of the season, recording two sacks and nine tackles.
“I know we didn’t win the game against Seattle, but I thought he was the best player on the field,” said Austin, who is now entering his fourth season with the Lions. “I mean, you really felt his impact.”
Ansah admitted last week that the playoff loss to Seattle still stings, and that he’s really “just looking forward to 2017” with double-digit sack numbers as his goal. Having Ansah return to form would give the Lions’ defense, which finished 30th in the league in sacks in 2016 with 26 total, a much-needed boost heading into the new season.
“We are looking forward to him being healthy and getting back to the type of player he is, and I know he is as well. I think he is an outstanding player and he’s a great worker.”