Justin Houston could miss upcoming Chiefs season after ACL repair

Justin Houston’s status for at least the early part of the 2016 season is in doubt.

On Tuesday, the Chiefs revealed that Houston — their star outside linebacker who was diagnosed with a hyperextended left knee in November — had surgery last month to fix an anterior cruciate ligament.

According to Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder, orthopedic surgeon James Andrews determined while scoping Houston’s knee in early February that the ACL was not functioning properly, even though it wasn’t torn.

So Andrews, Burkholder said, met with the Chiefs’ doctors and they decided to fix Houston’s ACL. The surgery was completed Feb. 16, and Houston was given a six- to 12-month recovery period, which puts him in line to return as soon as mid-August and as late as next February.

“Right now, he’s in the middle of the process of doing rehabilitation for an ACL injury,” Burkholder said of Houston, who had 7  1/2 sacks in 11 games last season. “It was a little tricky because his ACL wasn’t torn, but it wasn’t functioning the way it should.

“It’s too early to tell where he’s at right now, but he’s on the road to recovery.”

David J. Chao, a former NFL team physician for 17 years, said the distinction between a “torn” ACL and one that is “not functioning properly” is a thin one, though he has heard of such a thing.

“If you think of the ACL as a rope tying the tibia and femur together, that’s like saying my boat is tied into the dock, the rope is tied in, but it’s too loose, it’s not doing its job — the boat’s still slamming into the dock,” Chao said. “Just because the ACL is intact doesn’t mean it’s tight enough to do its job. The ACL is like a rope. But if the rope’s not tight, it doesn’t matter if it’s tied, (just like) if your belt is on but it’s not on tight enough, your pants are still going to fall down.

“So no, that’s not surprising. That does happen, so to speak.”

Houston, who inked a six-year, $101 million extension with the Chiefs last offseason, sustained the hyperextended left knee in a Nov. 29 game against Buffalo. He visited Andrews for the first time in mid-December for a second opinion, and he didn’t return to the field until the Chiefs’ wild-card playoff victory at Houston in January.

Houston logged 44 snaps in that game, but he only logged eight the next week in the Chiefs’ 27-20 loss to the New England Patriots in the divisional round.

“It was bad … you see your family out there in the war, and you can’t do anything but watch, it’s not a good feeling,” Houston said after the Patriots game.

It is unclear, at this point, whether Houston reinjured his knee against the Texans, and how much his return aggravated his ACL to the point it needed surgery, as hyperextended knees often don’t require surgery. Houston, however, did exit the Texans game for a stretch, which he blamed on irritation caused by the brace he wore on the leg.

“The knee brace tightens everything up,” Houston said. “My hamstring, my calf, everything is so stiff, I couldn’t move with it. And I can’t play without it. It hindered me a lot.

“I wasn’t where I wanted to be. I would have given anything I had to be out there a full 100 percent, or even 80 percent and help the guys out. I felt me playing more, I probably would have hurt the team more than helped it.”

There is no doubt, however, that Houston’s absence would be a massive hole in the Chiefs’ lineup, one that would be impossible to fill completely, though his status might explain part of the reason the Chiefs re-signed veteran outside linebacker Tamba Hali to a three-year, $22 million contract earlier this month.

Hali, 32, was named to the Pro Bowl (along with Houston) in each of the last two seasons, but he’s had his share of knee issues as well. He had 6  1/2 sacks in 2015, all while sitting out most practices in an effort to save himself for Sunday. Hali had his right knee cleaned out in February, but he’s been training at the club’s practice facility and is on track to return for the start of training camp in July.

“He’ll be ready to go in July,” Burkholder said.

In addition to Hali, the Chiefs will likely turn to 2014 first-round pick Dee Ford to fill any void left by Houston’s potential absence. Ford came alive a bit last season, recording 23 tackles and four sacks in 14 games (five starts) after a somewhat nondescript rookie year, but he would have to take on an even bigger role if Hali’s knee issues continue and Houston’s injury lingers into the season.

The Chiefs re-signed veteran outside linebacker Frank Zombo, a core special teamer who chipped in with three sacks last season, to give them added depth, but they also held formal interviews with at least three edge rushers — Noah Spence of Eastern Kentucky, Dadi Nicolas of Virginia Tech and Shaq Lawson of Clemson — at the NFL Scouting Combine in February, an indication the team could still be looking to fortify the position in the draft.

Now, if Houston indeed proves to be a fast healer and he returns during the middle of August, none of that will be necessary, of course. And it’s certainly worth noting that the team remains optimistic that the worst-case scenario for Houston, an elite player who posted a league-best 22 sacks in 2014, won’t come to fruition.

“We’re hoping, just because of his work ethic and he’s been a fast healer in the past, we’re hoping that’s not the case, that he’ll be able to play this season,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said during a conference call. “When and where that is, it’s just too early to tell.”

This story was originally published March 22, 2016 at 8:32 AM with the headline "Justin Houston could miss upcoming Chiefs season after ACL repair."