The Detroit Lions acquired Alabama cornerback Terrion Arnold with the 24th pick in the NFL Draft on April 25 and put him to work.

Although Arnold missed one game because of a groin injury, he was among the five NFL rookies who played more than 900 defensive snaps in the 2024 regular season. And even though he was carted off the field with a foot injury during Detroit’s regular-season finale, Arnold played all 75 defensive snaps in the Lions’ Divisional Round game against the Washington Commanders on Saturday night.

“It was nothing but experience,” Arnold said. “A lot of teams sit back and play zone. I had to go out there and challenge Wide Receiver Ones. And I’m young, so I know I’ll be the best cornerback in the league pretty soon. Very confident.

“Also I know my coaches, like coach (Dan) Campbell and then (defensive coordinator Aaron Glenn), my DB coach (Deshea Townsend) and (defensive assistants Jim O’Neil) and (Dre Thompson), they taught me a lot. Taught me how to deal with adversity, and even at the beginning of the season just the PIs.”

In the first four games of the season, Arnold was flagged for defensive pass interference five times, defensive holding twice and a face mask once. In the remaining 14 games, Arnold was penalized three times.

“It wasn’t a matter of if I was beat,” Arnold said. “It was a matter of just turning your head and locating the ball, and those are things you can fix. Like, it was never a talent thing as far as lining up and somebody was better than me. It was just from my inexperience, and the only way to get better and gain experience is from being out there. …

“I learned a lot. I feel like coming into this role, it was a lot, and then I got better as the season went on, started to find myself and just one of those things where I really look forward to next year.”

Arnold is looking forward to next season because the Commanders upset the No. 1-seeded Lions 45-31 on Saturday night to advance to the NFC Championship Game.

“Seeing them celebrate, when they knew that they had won the game, over there on the sidelines,” Arnold said, “hearing them in the locker room next door, that’s all the motivation you need going into next year. …

“Looking forward to playing again. That’s all I think about. When I woke up this morning, I said, I can’t believe it’s over, but the only way to ease the pain and this type of heartache is to get back to the drawing board and get to work.”

The Lions made their first back-to-back playoff appearances since 1995 this season, and Arnold said Detroit would make it three in a row in 2025.

“My message is not we got to get back, but we will be back,” Arnold said.

But if the Lions are back in the postseason for the 2025 season, it won’t be with the same team.

“The hardest part is knowing the room’s going to be different,” Arnold said. “Even in the locker room from after the game, we took time to say, ‘Guys, really cherish this moment in the locker room, because it’s going to be different.’ And that’s been the hardest thing about being in the NFL. Like, normally in college and stuff like that, you go back and see everybody. The NFL is a business. People get better opportunities, which I know that they’ll take those, I’m happy that they’ll take those, but it’s hard because you get close to a person and then they leave.”

Detroit had the conference’s best record at 15-2 in the regular season and came into Saturday night’s game off a first-round bye.

Arnold’s offseason plans start with taking it easy.

“I ain’t going to lie: I got to rest,” Arnold said. “Between the combine and then the draft, pro day, and then playing, you didn’t have a chance to get a break. Take a couple of weeks to get a break, and then I’m right back to it. We got to get back.”

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Mark Inabinett is a sports reporter for Alabama Media Group. Follow him on X at @AMarkG1.