Dave Birkett

Detroit Free Press

Before a rash of injuries kept him off the field most of the past two years, DeAndre Levy was irrefutably one of the best weak-side linebackers in the NFL.

In 2013, Levy intercepted a career-high six passes, tied for second most in the league. A year later, he rang up 151 tackles, the most by a Lion in 13 seasons.

Levy has played only three of a possible 29 games since that huge 2014 season earned him a four-year contract extension the following August.

But he is back on the field now, and with the Lions beginning a three-game stretch today against the New York Giants that will make or break their playoff hopes, the belief is that Levy, nearly three months removed from surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his knee, still can be a Pro Bowl-caliber player in the middle of the defense.

“Honestly, I do think that,” linebackers coach Bill Sheridan said this past week. “I think you even saw glimpses of it last week. He’s got so much going for him instinctively, quickness, reaction time. He’s a very good tackler, which is the No. 1 trait of any defensive front-seven player. He can cover. He’s a good blitzer. Oh, I anticipate that. Yes. There’s no way at his age, his play in any way, shape or form should have diminished. It’s not like he’s 35 years old and at the tail end of it.”

Levy, 29, played 18 snaps in last week’s win over the Chicago Bears as the Lions kept a close eye on his workload in his first action since the Sept. 11 opener.

But he had four tackles and showed flashes of the range that made him one of the league’s most formidable defenders a few years ago.

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Sheridan said Levy’s playing time should tick up in the coming weeks, though he won’t play every down today against a team that’s tied with the Lions for the second-best record in the NFC.

“He’ll be playing more,” Sheridan said. “And I think he’ll play more each week until he gets to where he’s playing the same amount that a Tahir Whitehead’s playing or a Josh Bynes is playing. I don’t know if he’ll go full bore this weekend, but he’ll definitely play more than he did last weekend, and he’s ready to do that.

“The nice thing is Josh and Tahir have had nice years and they’re playing solid, so right now he can complement them. But eventually he’ll be back into the full swing and playing at least as many reps as them.”

Levy has given one interview since returning to practice after the mid-November bye, in the locker room last week after the Bears game.

He never has detailed his injuries, either the meniscus tear that cost him 11 games this year — the injury was diagnosed only after swelling from a deep thigh bruise went down — or the hip injury that required surgery last October, but he has spoken and written passionately about his rehab and much of what he has gone through in an effort to get back on the field.

While Levy’s desire to play was met with skepticism from fans who looked crossways at his involvement in social causes and craved more specifics about why he was missing so much time, Sheridan said no one in the organization doubts what football means to Levy.

“My take on it, he’s done everything he possibly can to get back,” Sheridan said. “I mean, he wants to play. It’s not like an either/or for him, or, ‘Hey, if I can come back, great. If I can’t, no sweat.’ I don’t think he’s like that at all.

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“I think he’s been super conscientious, painfully so. I think he had hoped that he maybe would have felt better after the procedure than he has. I think he anticipated coming back earlier. But your body is what it is, and it talks to you and tells you when you can and you can’t.

“He’s been doing all kinds of workout stuff for weeks and hoping to break through, and obviously he felt well enough to play last week and play this week, and we anticipate him playing the rest of the way.”

Though Levy did have some minor setbacks with swelling in his return from surgery and might need his knee looked at again this off-season, Sheridan said Levy has been “relatively fanatical” while rehabbing seven days a week.

“He doesn’t take an off day. He comes in, workout, rehab, workout, rehab,” Sheridan said. “You haven’t ever heard anything from (head trainer) Kevin (Bastin) or from (strength coach) Harold (Nash), ‘Hey, he’s not stepping up in the rehab.’”

Now that he’s back, Levy could be a transformative player down the stretch for a team that has held seven straight opponents to 20 points or fewer and has tough games upcoming against the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers.

Already, the linebacking corps that once was the weak link of the team is starting to look like a strength.

Bynes, who re-signed in late October after he was released with a training-camp knee injury, has infused the unit with energy and grit.

Whitehead, who played every defensive snap before missing a game this month against the New Orleans Saints because of a knee injury, has a team-high 107 tackles.

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And Levy gives the Lions three experienced linebackers Sheridan is comfortable using in any situation.

“His experience is invaluable because he’s certainly seen a lot,” coach Jim Caldwell said. “Very instinctive guy. He does a good job in terms of understanding, communicating what’s happening in front of him, behind him. So, all of those things I think play a part in it, and some of them are — obviously they don’t show up on the stat sheet, but it may be preventing a guy from throwing to a guy in a certain area because he’s in the right spot. That lends to maybe moving more toward an area where we have a little bit more strength in coverage. He does, I think, a lot of things well.”

While Levy played primarily as the third linebacker in the base defense against the Bears, Sheridan said he was constantly angling for more playing time and ways to get on the field.

“He got a little taste of it, and he loves it,” Sheridan said.

And to no one’s surprise, the Lions love having Levy back.

“I know he’s had some injuries,” Sheridan said. “But even just watching him last week and how he’s practiced the last couple weeks, I don’t see anything diminished other than just not having been out there for a while.”

Contact Dave Birkett: dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Download our Lions Xtra app for free on Apple and Android!