Al Golden couldn’t believe his ears last month when linebacker Jarrad Davis told him was ready to return from a high ankle sprain.

Severe high ankle injuries like the one Davis suffered Aug. 23 in a preseason game against the Buffalo Bills can keep players out six weeks or more. Davis made it back in just under a month, for the Detroit Lions’ Week 3 game against the Philadelphia Eagles on Sept. 22.

“I was shocked,” Golden, the Lions linebackers coach, said Wednesday. “Because a high ankle, to the degree that he had it, it’s tough. The previous week he was trying to make a run at it, against L.A. And he didn’t quite get there. And then he said, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to be ready to go for Philly,’ and I was like, ‘Whoa, really?’”

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Davis played the last two weeks, against the Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs, and drew mixed reviews for his play.

The analytics site Pro Football Focus ranks Davis the worst qualifying linebacker in the NFL through four weeks, while Golden and defensive coordinator Paul Pasqualoni insist that ranking is off base.

“I’d be careful there,” Pasqualoni said. “The guy brings a lot. He’s the quarterback of the defense. Does an awful lot for us. He really, really does. Love him. Me personally, love him. No issues.”

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Davis, the Lions’ leading tackler last season, played less than a full complement of snaps against the Eagles, leaving at one point to get his ankle re-taped, and the Lions took him off the field briefly during the Chiefs’ game-winning touchdown drive last week.

Golden acknowledged Davis had some rust to shake off upon his return, and he pointed to this week’s bye as a recalibration point for the linebacker.

“It’s hard,” Golden said. “A month is a month, especially when you’re going against the quality of quarterbacks that we just saw and the talent that we’ve seen the last couple weeks on offense. So I think, again I’m just excited for him to just get healthy and get back into a routine and maybe take some of that training room time and get back to video or the film, whatever it is, because you can start to displace your time when you’re coming off an injury. And I think him being healthy, the break coming now is good news for us moving forward.”

The Lions need Davis at his best to reach their potential defensively. While Davis has historically struggled in coverage, he evolved into a pass-rush threat last season and that added dimension was a big part of the Lions’ second-half success.

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Davis needs a big season, too, as the Lions have until May 2020 to decide whether to pick up the fifth year option on his rookie contract.

While that decision is a long way off, Golden said he’s not at all concerned about what Davis will bring over the final 12 games, starting with the Lions’ first division game next week against the Green Bay Packers.

“I haven’t seen anything that would indicate that he’s slower or lost any of his quickness at all,” Golden said. “I think the hardest thing is, I think for people to understand, you miss a month, and you really have an injury that prevents you from even doing change of direction drills or any of the drills associated with your profession for a month. Running in the water or doing the Alter G (anti-gravity treadmill) or riding a bike is a completely different thing.

“He pushed to come back, but like anything else there’s some adversity that comes with that. And I think he battled through that the last two weeks and I think, like I said, this break is going to be great for him. He’s going to feel great when he comes back, he’s going to be completely healthy and he doesn’t have to worry about maintaining or going to the training room, now he can get back to his schedule of studying. I think that’s important for him. That’s the kind of player he is.”

Contact Dave Birkett at dbirkett@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @davebirkett. Read more on the Detroit Lions and sign up for our Lions newsletter.