Justin Houston's season appears to be in question after an offseason surgery to fix his ACL, according to Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid. This is a pretty big shocker and helps explain why the Chiefs brought Tamba Hali back.
Speaking on a conference call on Tuesday, Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder said that Houston had his knee scoped after the season, which we knew about because GM John Dorsey told us at the Combine.
However, Dr. James Andrews found that Houston's ACL was intact but not functioning and it was then fixed on February 15. So it wasn't torn, according to Burkholder, but it wasn't working.
Burkholder said that Houston's rehab from this surgery is 6-12 months which officially puts his season in question.
"We're hoping (he won't miss the season) just because of his work ethic and he's been a fast healer in the past and we're hoping that that's not the case and that he'll be able to play this season ... It's too early to be able to tell," Reid told reporters on a Tuesday conference call.
A February surgery makes six months around August, which is training camp time. It sounds like that would be the best case scenario. Worst case? Yikes...
This helps explain why the Chiefs brought Tamba Hali back on the deal that they did. While they aren't necessarily related, it sure makes a lot more sense now.