ALLEN PARK, Mich. -- Ezekiel Ansah was almost out of the locker room Monday. He had grabbed his bag, looked like he was headed out the door. One of the least-talkative of the Detroit Lions' main players, he was asked if he had a few minutes.

He chose to talk.

It's been a tough season for the defensive end, a player Detroit hoped would be the foundation of its pass rush. He's been hurt all season. His production, no matter how you look at it, is not what it once was.

Injuries may have had an effect. What started as a knee injury that held him out of training camp and has left him unable to practice fully at any point this season, led to back problems that cost him two games. It's left him questionable to play almost every week and, whether he'd admit it or not, not fully himself.

"I just got to stay focused, you know," Ansah said. "I know I've been dealing with a lot this year."

The good news is Ansah declared Monday that he is feeling "good overall. I feel good." He, not surprisingly, wouldn't go into details about the extent of his injuries but seems to believe he's on a positive trajectory.

That's important considering what's coming next. Unless they make the playoffs, the Lions have five games left in their season. Five games for Ansah to make an impression that can impact his future, whether it's in Detroit or elsewhere.

Six months ago, that "or elsewhere" part seemed like an improbable scenario. Ansah was one of the better edge rushers in the NFL. He was coming off a poor season, but the potential he showed in 2015 made him an attractive candidate for a long-term deal. At the very least the Lions figured to use a franchise tag on him -- as long as the Matthew Stafford contract got done, which it eventually did.

The Lions, a team with no margin for error over the final five games of the regular season, are still desperately seeking a pass rush. Entering the season they hoped Ansah would turn his injury-filled 2016 into an aberration. This is a contract year, but he has made more than two tackles in a game just twice this season. More than half of his five sacks came in one night -- a three-sack performance that showed off his potential when he was matched up against New York Giants left tackle Ereck Flowers.

These might be Ansah's final days in Detroit even though the Lions don't have an obvious replacement. Yes, Detroit will get Kerry Hyder back from injury next season, but it's not clear if he will be able to replicate his career-best performance from 2016. Anthony Zettel has shown promise, but like Hyder, he's more of a complementary pass-rush piece than a game-changer.

It's tough for the Lions to trust that Ansah will remain healthy for the long term. Not after the past two seasons. He can change some of those thoughts and make it a more difficult decision over the next five weeks. If the old Ansah emerges, the player who once looked like he'd be competing with J.J. Watt and Khalil Mack as one of the top young pass-rushers in the league, the Lions will at least have to consider it. But his current production would make giving him a lucrative multi-year deal a difficult thing to do.