Dontari Poe’s role for Chiefs season opener is unclear, but he’s glad to be back

Dontari Poe participated in his first full-squad practice on Wednesday, and by all accounts he’s feeling well.

Poe spoke publicly Thursday for the first time since he started having back issues during organized team activities. But he didn’t give an answer when asked whether he expects to play in the Chiefs’ season-opener Sunday at Houston.

“No idea. I’m taking it day by day,” Poe said. “Just going through practice like I would a regular week.”

Perhaps, however, his return this week from a herniated disk can best be summed up by inside linebacker Derrick Johnson, who clearly couldn’t have been happier at the recent return of Poe, a two-time Pro Bowl nose tackle.

“I was smiling big,” Johnson said. “And he told me he was down to like 330, 335 (pounds). I said, ‘Man, you’ve got to get back up to 345 (pounds), man, take some blockers on for me.’

“He’s one of the best nose tackles back in this game, and to have him back means a lot for an inside ’backer and means I’m going to be a little bit more free, so that’s always good.”

The fact that Poe, who is listed at 6 feet 3 and 346 pounds, somehow came back to practice a few pounds lighter is an excellent sign, particularly about the 25-year-old’s commitment to football.

“That’s because I was sitting down for a month, and I didn’t want to be eating and come back at 400 pounds,” Poe said of his weight loss. “I just decided to put it in my head to eat right. Really, my mom got me hip to it … to just kind of eat right, take care of your body more. That’s just how it happened.”

It’s also a positive sign that Poe, who will be a free agent in 2017, is potentially in position to contribute sooner than anyone thought after undergoing a back procedure in July that sometimes takes upwards of three months to return from.

The Chiefs gave Poe an epidural shortly after he first started experiencing back problems on June 2, when he left an OTA practice because of what the team called back spasms.

The shot worked, at least in the beginning. Poe missed a handful of practices but returned in time to participate in the team’s mandatory minicamp June 16-18.

Poe then received a second epidural before he headed home to Memphis for the players’ monthlong break before camp, but he re-injured his back shortly thereafter, which led to the MRI that uncovered his herniated disk.

“I was doing just regular offseason workouts (in Memphis), and the pain was getting worse and worse. That’s when I called Rick (Burkholder, the head athletic trainer) and went through that process,” Poe said. “I feel like they did a great job of bringing me back.”

Poe, who said he had never been injured like this before, kept telling himself he’d return soon.

“That was pretty much positivity I was putting in my own head,” Poe said. “I just played the confident role and felt like if I did what I had to do, I’d be ready to go.”

Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said he liked what he saw from Poe, who also participated in Thursday’s practice, albeit only in shorts in a helmet, during the portion open to the media.

“I thought he looked good,” Sutton said. “He was quick. I thought his reactions to blocks and protections were very good, and that’s one of the hardest things to know.

“Obviously, Dontari’s played a lot of football, but sometimes you just need some reps in there to get back in the swing of the thing. But I thought overall, for the first day in pads, he did a really good job in that area.”

This story was originally published September 10, 2015 at 2:57 PM with the headline "Dontari Poe’s role for Chiefs season opener is unclear, but he’s glad to be back."