Chiefs reveal the nature of defensive end Mike Catapano’s mystery illness

On Friday, the Chiefs finally revealed the mystery illness that had been plaguing defensive end Mike Catapano for the better part of two months.

“Mike had two issues,” trainer Rick Burkholder said. “One, he had a virus that was gastrointestinal based. As we studied that — and we studied it extensively — he went to New York to the Hospital for Special Surgery, and there it was determined that he had another problem, that he had a concussion.”

Catapano was moved from the reserve/non-football illness list to injured reserve this week, and was last spotted in the building Thursday.

Burkholder, who did not take questions about Catapano’s condition, said he was placed on the non-football illness list because of the virus and then placed on injured reserve because of the concussion, which proved to be a little harder to diagnose.

“He was studied at New York University Hospital, the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh for the concussion,” Burkholder said.

However, with a prognosis now known, Catapano can finally start the process of recovery, though his move to injured reserve ensures he will not return this season.

“We’ve gotten a prognosis and we’ve got rehabilitation to do,” Burkholder said. “He’s back here. He’s doing rehab with us and he’ll be re-evaluated in two weeks.

This story was originally published September 26, 2014 at 1:25 PM with the headline "Chiefs reveal the nature of defensive end Mike Catapano’s mystery illness."