When Saivion Smith got hurt in a Detroit Lions’ game last season, he lay on the turf unable to move, enduring what he called “the scariest thing of my life.” Now the former Alabama cornerback is ready to play football again.

Smith has re-signed with Detroit in time for the Lions’ offseason program, the NFL team announced on Monday.

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Smith left his 2022 season debut in an ambulance on Oct. 9.

The Lions elevated Smith from their practice squad to start at safety against the New England Patriots, and he sustained an injury on the Patriots’ second offensive snap of the game.

Smith jammed New England tight end Hunter Henry, who was lined up in the slot, as the receiver came off the line of scrimmage. After contacting Henry with his helmet, Smith spun and fell face first to the turf at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.

Henry had a 23-yard reception on the play, but the attention quickly shifted back down the field, where medical personnel attended to Smith, who was placed on a backboard and taken to a hospital for evaluation of a neck injury.

“I could see everything; I could hear everything,” Smith told mlive.com last season. “I saw my teammates on the sideline. But I just couldn’t move. I was trying to extend my arms, move my legs. I couldn’t do nothing for like 20 seconds.”

Smith was able to return to Detroit with his teammates.

The Lions placed Smith on injured reserve on Oct. 19, and he underwent fusion surgery on Nov. 8 to correct a bulging disc.

“Once I got in the ambulance and could start moving again, I was really pissed off,” Smith said at the time. “Because I was like, ‘Damn, I really want to play.’ That was my first start since I got here. I want to play right now, to tell you the truth. I don’t even want to go through and have to sit out the rest of the season. …

“It’s definitely frustrating, but it’s all good. It’s God’s plan. Just moving forward with rehab and getting better.”

The Lions are scheduled to begin their offseason program on Monday.

Smith left Alabama after the 2018 campaign with one season of eligibility remaining. He wasn’t selected in the 2019 NFL Draft and signed as a rookie free agent with the Jacksonville Jaguars. Jacksonville waived Smith at the end of the preseason as it reduced its roster to the regular-season limit.

In 2020, Smith played for the Houston Roughnecks of the XFL before that league stopped its season prematurely because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Smith spent the 2020 NFL season mainly as a member of the Dallas Cowboys’ practice squad. But he also played in six games, including one start. He was on the field for 75 defensive snaps and 84 special-teams plays and made three tackles.

Waived by the Cowboys in May 2021, Smith was claimed by the Seattle Seahawks, but they released him on the eve of training camp. He joined the Denver Broncos in time for the 2021 preseason. When Smith didn’t make the regular-season roster, Denver signed him for its practice squad, where he spent the first seven weeks of the season.

The San Francisco 49ers signed Smith to their active roster on Dec. 11, 2021. After playing on special teams in San Francisco’s 26-23 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, Smith was waived again. Claimed off waivers by the Lions, he played on special teams in Detroit’s next two games.

After not making the Lions’ 53-man roster coming out of the preseason, Smith was signed for the practice squad and was playing in his 10th NFL regular-season game when he got hurt.

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