Carlos Osorio/Associated Press

Detroit Lions linebacker DeAndre Levy is dealing with a nagging hip injury that required surgery. Levy was placed on the injured reserve, ending his season.

Continue for updates.

Levy Placed on IR

Wednesday, Nov. 4

Ian Rapoport of NFL Network reported the move.

Levy Undergoes Surgery

Wednesday, Oct. 14

"Levy is headed to surgery," tweeted Tim Twentyman of DetroitLions.com on Oct. 14. However, Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated noted the linebacker couldn't be placed on the short-term injured reserve list after the spot was filled by Alex Carter.

Examining Levy's Importance to Lions

In his seventh season out of Wisconsin, Levy has emerged as one of the best run-stopping linebackers in football. He made a career-high 151 tackles and 2.5 sacks last season, his third time topping the 100-tackle plateau. The result was a second-team All-Pro selection and a brand-new, four-year contract that will pay him $33 million.

Levy says he's been motivated in recent seasons by the finite length of NFL careers, per Jenny Vrentas of the MMQB. "Now I’ve kind of just attacked things head-on. You only can do this for a short period of time. I figured I’d go as hard as I can, and if I burned out after six, seven years, fine. As long as I gave it my all. That’s cool. But if it’s eight, nine, 10 years, that’s even better."

Given the exodus of defensive talent last offseason (namely Ndamukong Suh and Nick Fairley), it has been an uphill battle for defensive coordinator Teryl Austin's unit to match its 2014 heights.