Justin Houston unlikely to play Sunday despite making ‘tremendous strides’

Outside linebacker Justin Houston is unlikely to make his return from offseason knee surgery Sunday against Jacksonville, Chiefs coach Andy Reid indicated Monday.

“It’ll be a stretch for him to play this week — I’ll tell you that,” Reid said.

Reid said the Chiefs don’t have to make a decision on whether to activate Houston from the physically unable to perform list until Nov. 9.

“What we’re going to do is take it like we have been and see how he does this week, and then, keep communication with him and if he needs the week, then he’s got this week and all the way up to next Wednesday,” Reid said. “If he’s ready to go, then he can go. I’ll listen to the docs and talk to Justin and see how he’s doing.”

Reid said Houston, who started practicing two weeks ago, made “tremendous strides” last week.

“I know he was sore,” Reid said. “He was moving around and taking a lot of reps last week, so he’s pushing himself through it … he jumped in and did all the contact things last week. You could just tell his awareness out there was better, the speed of the game, it looked like he was settling down to that a little bit.”

After Dee Ford’s 3  1/2 -sack game Sunday against Indianapolis, the need for Houston’s return has been lessened. The Chiefs had six sacks against the Colts, which was their best pass-rushing effort of the season.

This story was originally published October 31, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Justin Houston unlikely to play Sunday despite making ‘tremendous strides’."