Alim McNeill discusses what's changed this season

And you're watching Lions Game Day live on Fox 2 Detroit. The 2025 season was a disappointment for Lions defensive lineman Ali McNeil. He was recovering from lingering leg and abdomen issues. But in 2026, we're seeing a new McNeil, one that's got his legs back underneath him. And with five and a half sacks in just eight games, that is elite level production, which puts him into the Sunday spotlight for this one-on-one conversation with Fox 2 Sports Director Dan Miller, a chat brought to you by Flood Law. Hang on tight, Mac. I'll be back. I'll be back. I feel good. Um... I mean, no complaints physically or anything, but I feel good. I think mentally I'm able to see a lot of things faster this year. I'm on my sixth year now, and I've seen a lot of blocks, just about every block you could see. I'm just able to process things a little bit faster and just going to make a play, honestly. You're making it sound so casual. Let me throw something at you. The Lions put this out among all interior defensive linemen. You're first in games with a half sack or more. You're first in quarterback curries. You're second in total pressures. You're second in sacks. You're fourth in quarterback hits. You're playing some amazing football. Can you say this is the best you've ever felt out there on the field? Yeah, yeah. This is the best I've ever felt out there, honestly. And I don't know. I didn't really realize any of that. I try not to pay attention to it just so I can just keep going and try to stay consistent. Yeah, the way I'm playing now is how I just see myself playing ball. That's how I've always tried to dominate the game. So the interesting thing is in listening to you, I think for a lot of us, we thought, okay, he's another year removed from that injury, and he looks like a lean. But you're telling me it's this combined with being in shape. Yeah, 100%. Your leg being back to normal. Yeah, 100%. That's why, I mean, when you see even like older guys, Like Cam Hayward, he's been playing forever. I don't even know how many years now. He's still got it physically, but mentally he's seen everything. He's seen every block. He's seen every play, every quarterback, everything. And so when he's out there making play, you can just see how fast and quick he processes stuff and he's able to make the play. And that's all because of this. It wouldn't even, the physical just brought him there. But if you know what's going on mentally and you can see it fast, that's just any sport. You're going to have an advantage over everybody. Last four weeks you guys have only given up 62 points, you've given up 15 and a half points a game, didn't give up a touchdown to Miami. Where in your mind have you guys improved so much? We always had the physical ability, the speed and all that stuff, the power and whatever. But I think as a defense as a whole, we just kind of locked in and settled in like, okay, let's not make this too complicated. Let's just go out there and do what got us to this league. Within the system, and I think that's what we're doing right now. We just got to stay consistent with it. But I just always believed this is how we could play ball, and that's how we believe it. So you're into that stretch that you go into every year where you have three games in 11 days. Right. And the first one's in Germany. Right. I mean, is it one where you just got to lock in and say, I'm going to be where my feet are. I'm not thinking about Tampa. I'm not thinking about Chicago. I know I got big games coming, but I got to be here, mind on Patriots. Yeah, that's literally what it is. When you have these stretches like this, you just got to go boom, boom, boom, game by game, play by play. Just don't worry about what's in the future. You'll be all right. And it's also mentally, I don't know if Coach said it in the media or not, you just don't care. You just can't care. You sit there and sulk about it, you know, you're feeling sorry for yourself. Well, there's other teams that got to do it, too. Other players, they got to play the same game we do. And, you know, it is what it is. Just be a professional about it. Take care of your body. Go to sleep. Eat good. And you give yourself the best chance. But, you know, you can't really care. There's nothing you can do about it. Choose the schedule. You just got to play it. And as long as we're going there with that mentality, we'll be just fine. So, Will, what about Aleem McNeil? I mean, when he brings up pressure up the middle, he's hard to stop, and it seems like his teammates on that D-line feed off of that, especially when it comes to stopping an opponent's run game. Yeah, he talks about... His mind moving and seeing things more quickly this year. He's also moving physically more quickly. There were times last year coming off the torn ACL when Kelvin Shepard said Ali McNeil couldn't even put his foot in the ground and plant. He was playing on basically one leg, maybe one and a half. And so when he was asked after last week's game, What's changed from last year to this year? He said, I got two legs this year and you can see it in every facet of his game. And the result is that the Lions have two game breakers up front. And Ali McNeil and Aiden Hutchinson. And when you're in the quarterback's face all day, like those two guys are, you begin to force the quarterbacks to watch the rush instead of keeping their eyes downfield. And when you can do that as a defensive line, especially when rushing four, you've got them. And they've begun to do that this season. And you know what, with Ali McNeil, it's the quickness that gets me. I mean, now that he can move like he wants to. He's quicker inside. He's got burst. He's got explosiveness. This is the player they signed for $97 million a couple years ago. He wasn't that player last year physically and mentally. He is again this year. He is an all-pro defensive tackle through eight games this season. Love it.