Chiefs' Eric Fisher had shoulder surgery this offseason

Hearing Andy Reid tell us today that Eric Fisher had offseason surgery was a surprise. Hearing him say he had multiple offseason surgeries was an even bigger surprise.

There's no timetable on Fisher's return to a full recovery but Reid told reporters today at the start of the offseason program that Fisher had surgery on his shoulder earlier this year and also had a sports hernia fixed. He is not cleared yet but that's not as big of a deal at this point in time as the first phase of the offseason program is conditioning stuff.

Still, it's an issue the Chiefs would rather not deal with. A shoulder injury won't allow Fisher to gain strength in all the areas he wanted to. That was the main issue with Fisher last season so not having a full offseason to build his upper-body strength will be something for him to work on.

Fisher and Reid did mention he was able to work on his leg strength, which will help in the running game.

"He's doing very well," Reid said. "He's been here the whole offseason rehabbing and has made quite a bit of progress. He's doing all of his lower body work and rehabbing the shoulder, doing what he can with that part of that."

The shoulder injury is something we could've seen coming with his injuries last year (and explains why I saw Facebook pictures of him in a sling earlier this offseason). The hernia is something he said he hasn't had before. The hernia is what kept him out of the playoff game against the Indianapolis Colts.

The Chiefs obviously feel he'll be ready early enough because Andy Reid publicly announced him as the left tackle earlier this offseason. That's a position Fisher feels comfortable with, saying "in his heart" he's a left tackle. Fisher played right tackle last season despite playing left in college, and he noted that a number of great tackles have played both the left and right.

Fisher said he stayed in Kansas City this offseason to continue working. He hopes to put on enough weight to play at 315 pounds. He's already heavier than last year's playing weight -- in the low 300s, he said -- and hasn't even started on upper body strength yet with his shoulder injury.