Chiefs’ Mike DeVito, Derrick Johnson find out how much they miss football after being hurt

For veterans like defensive end Mike DeVito, the start of offseason workouts is typically an exciting time. Football players can return to their element, reconnect with teammates and begin their first steps toward achieving their goals for the upcoming season.

However, it says a lot about the kind of year DeVito had in 2014, almost all of which he missed due to an Achilles’ injury, when he couldn’t help but feel a tad nervous entering the beginning of this year’s offseason program on Monday.

“Today, I had butterflies like I was getting ready to play a game,” DeVito said with a laugh.

For DeVito and inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, both of whom missed the final 15 games of the season because of the same injury, Monday marked the first time they were allowed to speak to the media in nearly eight months.

And both made it clear that the time they spent on the sideline last season went a long way toward helping them realize how much they loved football.

“I was in the locker room with the guys, but it’s different when you’re not out there (putting in) the blood, sweat and tears as they do on Sunday,” said Johnson, who turns 33 in November. “That’s big time — that’s what I’m used to, that’s what I do.”

DeVito, who turns 31 in June, learned that lesson the hard way.

“I always tried to be somebody who said football doesn’t define who I am,” DeVito said. “I’m a man of faith, and that’s first in my life. (Then) football got taken away, and then I realized how much it actually means.

“It’s so consuming and it’s every day, you’re working with the guys and grinding and working towards a certain goal. (Then) that gets taken away from you … this was the hardest thing I’ve gone through in my career, to sit on the outside and watch this. It was killer.”

In fact, both made it clear that if it wasn’t for training together to recover from their injuries their road to recovery would have been much tougher.

“Mike DeVito was a guy I depended on a lot, even before the injury,” Johnson said. “He’s the guy that kept the big guys off of me. To have a guy of that caliber to actually be in and out of rehab with me every single day … I got even closer with him.”

DeVito said Johnson’s presence made all the difference in his rehab. While Johnson scoffed when asked if he has any plans to retire soon — “I could go another three, four, five years,” he said — DeVito was less certain.

“(Rehab) became our battle — football was over and now it was about getting back,” DeVito said. “To do that by yourself … I heard you guys talking to DJ about retirement. I think I would have considered retirement if I would have had to go through that by myself.

“We were brothers before, but we really built that bond even more so. You don’t really know the person you’re with when you face adversity with them, so it was awesome. I don’t know if I would have made it to this point right now if it wasn’t for working with DJ.”

The extent to which both men will be able to participate when practice begins next month remains unclear, though Chiefs coach Andy Reid said both have been running and lifting and doing the necessary work to build up their bodies for the upcoming season.

Both seemed confident they were ready to work out when organized team activities begin May 26.

“If you see me run and do drills (now), I’m probably at 100 percent, but I’m harder on myself so I’m probably 95 (percent), just because I haven’t played football yet,” Johnson said. “But do I have any limitations? Not at all. The ankle is very flexible, the Achilles is doing great, I don’t feel it at all during strenuous workouts with weights. Running fast, racing people, all that stuff is back.

“I just can’t wait to, in a couple of weeks, get on the actual field and run around with the guys on the football field.”

The 6-foot-3 Johnson said he currently weighs around 230 pounds, which is 12 under his listed weight of 242.

“I’m a little light right now,” Johnson said. “I’ll probably try to get back up to 235. But I always focus on coming into camp in shape already, light as I can be. I’m an older guy, so gaining weight is not a problem for me.”

DeVito, meanwhile, says the range of motion in his foot is “good” and he’s been able to work out fully.

“Doing this stuff right now, it’s a good sign, but until you put the pads on and get rocking, that’s when you really know where it is,” DeVito said.

If healthy, both figure to give the Chiefs’ defense a huge boost. Their run defense dropped from 11th in 2013 to 28th last season, and while DeVito’s Pro Football Focus run defense grade of plus-16.4 in 2013 ranked fourth among 45 qualifying 3-4 defensive ends, Johnson’s run defense grade of plus-1.3 ranked 18th among 55 qualifying 3-4 inside linebackers.

The good news for the Chiefs is that both are optimistic they’ll return to that level of play in 2015, and with a grateful approach, to boot.

“I mean, I got a little taste of not being out there on the field with the guys, not being out there in the meeting rooms, and that’s a taste of retirement and I am not ready for that at all,” Johnson said.

DeVito said, “It was a tough year but I feel like it really helped me grow. I’ll never take a second in here for granted ever again.”

This story was originally published April 20, 2015 at 7:01 PM with the headline "Chiefs’ Mike DeVito, Derrick Johnson find out how much they miss football after being hurt."