ALLEN PARK, Mich. — Alim McNeill has been visualizing this since Dec. 15, 2024. That’s the day his season ended, and the day this all started.

It’s been a long time coming for Detroit’s talented do-it-all defensive tackle. He wasn’t there for his team’s playoff run, watching along as he and several other key members of this defense recovered from various injuries. What was once a dream season, with McNeill playing the best football of his life, was taken away after tearing his ACL vs. the Bills in Week 15.

McNeill, though, is set to make his 2025 debut on Monday night vs. the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. He’s worked tirelessly to get here.

“It’s the only thing I’ve been looking forward to,” McNeill said Thursday. “I don’t even know how to explain that to you. I’ve been waiting on this day for a long, long time.”

McNeill is a prime example of how the Lions built this team. He was part of a foundational 2021 draft class that netted them Penei Sewell, Amon-Ra St. Brown and Derrick Barnes, among others. A third-round pick out of N.C. State, McNeill was known as more of a run-stuffer than an interior pass rusher coming out of the draft. But the Lions felt he had more in him and were confident he could take his game wherever he wanted it to go.

After solid rookie and sophomore campaigns, McNeill proved the Lions right. He changed his diet ahead of his third season. He cut out red meat and focused on portion control while incorporating healthier foods into his daily meals. His body fat dropped 13 percent, and McNeill saw his playing weight decrease from 327 to 305. He became a true gym rat, spending his offseasons in Detroit to put in work at the facility. He took up yoga, attending classes once a week and making sure to get his stretching done each morning.

The end result was a much lighter, nimbler version of McNeill. He was able to harness the untapped pass-rushing skills the Lions felt he had and pair that with an ability to anchor in the run game. He’s a truly versatile player, able to play nose tackle or three-technique.

A breakout season awaited him. A four-year, $97 million contract extension did, too. The goal for any NFL franchise should be to draft well, develop and re-sign quality young talent deemed part of the future. A lot of teams say that’s what they’re about. The Lions live it, through good process and smart financial planning.

McNeill was no different.

“Fired up for Mac. Man, he earned that,” Dan Campbell said of McNeill’s extension last year. “He’s a pivotal piece here for us, and he’s one of our pillars here. No different than these guys that we’ve signed back, so we’re fired up for him. He’s playing at a high level.”

“I’ve seen Alim kind of grow up from a rookie to his second year, now his third year and so on, but it’s awesome and they’re rewarding the right guys and that’s what good teams do,” QB Jared Goff said last season. “It gives everyone else in the locker room like, ‘Hey, you want to be rewarded, you want to make a ton of money like these guys? Just watch these guys practice. … It’s an easy thing for them to do for them upstairs, I’m sure, to reward the right guys, but it also feels good for us in the locker room.”

The 2024 season was McNeill’s best to date. At the time of his injury, he ranked top 10 among defensive tackles in pressures (eighth with 45) and pass rush win rate (sixth at 14.5 percent), per PFF. He gets it done against the run and pass and has earned a reputation as one of the most complete defensive tackles in football.

Two months after agreeing to his extension, though, McNeill went down.

The way he did it — while pressuring Bills QB Josh Allen — was all the more unfortunate. McNeill bent around the corner, hand-swiped his way past guard Connor McGovern and landed awkwardly on his right knee — immediately grabbing it in frustration. He lingered on the field for a bit, as trainers came to his aid.

He knew right away. He tore his ACL. His season was over.

“Mac’s out for the year, he’s got a knee injury that’s going to require surgery,” Campbell said in December, when asked about the latest wave of injuries that depleted his defense. “Those guys helped us get to this point, so we owe it to them, they laid it on the line for us.”

As difficult as it is to watch your season end right before the playoffs, McNeill carried an uncommonly positive mindset into the rehab awaiting him. He lay low after surgery, allowing his knee to rest and recover. When he was cleared to begin rehabbing, McNeill spent five months in San Diego with Derrick Samuel, a physical therapist the team recommended. He spent most days getting comfortable on his surgically repaired knee. Slowly but surely, McNeill was working his way back, with hopes of beating a November timeline.

Rehab came naturally to McNeill because of the work ethic he’s adopted. He’s turned himself into a true pro in this league with strong habits, and that extended to his ACL rehab. It was his first major injury. The days were long. But they were never dark, in part, because of the end goal in sight.

“I feel like that’s just who I am,” McNeill said. “People have those moments, I’m not trying to downplay that at all, it’s just, me personally, I can’t have dark days just because that doesn’t do anything for me. So it’s like, I have to go forward, and my only goal was to get back on the field. So, I’m like, ‘Dark days for what?’ I play for the Detroit Lions. I’m training. I don’t have to pay for this training. I just didn’t have any dark days. … Every day I woke up, I was just like, ‘Let’s get better today.’”

“He’s always very steady, which I appreciate about him,” Aidan Hutchinson said of McNeill. “Never too high, never too low, and I think that’s why he’s had the success that he’s had. He’s gonna continue to be that way, and that’s why he’s special.”

In training camp, you could often find McNeill popping out of the weight room on occasion to take in practice or chop it up with his teammates on the side. He looked cut at the time, even more so than usual. In addition to rehabbing, McNeill worked to continue transforming his body. That’s saying something, considering the last time he did this, he established himself as one of the game’s most versatile defensive tackles. The idea of him being even better, once the rust is shaken off, was a scary one when you’d see him this summer.

But over the past few weeks, McNeill had been more and more visible in the locker room. It was a sign that perhaps he’d be back sooner rather than later. McNeill was confident that’d be the case. And earlier this month, the Lions began his 21-day return window. A remarkable comeback for a player who was once expected back around mid- to late November, based on the timing of his injury. He’s set to make his season debut on “Monday Night Football” against the Buccaneers on Monday.

“I see him helping in a major way,” Lions defensive coordinator Kelvin Sheppard said of McNeill this month. “I told Dan yesterday, it’s amazing when you watch those practice clips. It’s like he’s been at training camp. I mean, he does not look like a player that hasn’t practiced. And that’s credit to him. I know all those bone density and all these guru terms they throw out, but all I know is I see a very, very high-caliber defensive tackle when I turned on the tape yesterday. So, I’m very excited to have him back out there.”

“Fifty-four, it’s gonna be great,” Hutchinson said Thursday. “It’s gonna be so good to have him back. I know he can’t wait to be back. It’s gonna be fun to watch. That’s all I know, and we’re gonna be playing beside each other on some reps, too. So, it’s gonna be really great to get him back.”

McNeill said he’s been sitting at home in recent weeks, visualizing himself making plays for this defense. Of course, he doesn’t need to visualize it — anyone who turns on his tape last season can see his impact for themselves — but it’s how he’s managed to work his way back. He’s set to rejoin a Lions team that will welcome him with open arms, in hopes that a few quarterbacks end up in his.

He’s been ready for this.

“I had surgery January 2nd, and then after that, I was just like, ‘All right, it’s time to go, we gotta get back soon as we can,’” McNeill said. “If I could’ve came back in two weeks, I would have did it. But it was what it was. We’re here now. It’s good to be here.”