Patrick Mahomes II dropped back to pass during a recent Chiefs practice Lions Game Jerseys , and before the new quarterback even had time to set up, fearsome pass rusher Justin Houston was staring him in the eyes.
Without Mahomes turning his back, either.
The four-time Pro Bowl linebacker has primarily played on the right side during his career, which means he’s been chasing quarterbacks down from their blind side. But his new position coach, Mike Smith, intends to line Houston up opposite the weakest player on an opponent’s offensive line, and often that will mean facing the right tackle rather than the left.
”It doesn’t matter what side. I want to be everywhere,” Houston said this week. ”The weakest link is where I want to be. Every team is different. Everybody has a different weak link. So whoever has the weakest link, wherever it is, that’s where I want to be.”
Just so long as it’s on the field.
Houston spent a lot of time on the sideline the last few years as a career that once seemed destined for the Hall of Fame was slowed by injuries. He piled up 22 sacks in 2014, a half-sack shy of the single-season NFL record, and was rewarded with a $101 million, six-year contract that made him one of the highest-paid defensive players in the league.
But after playing well the first 11 games the following season, Houston hyperextended his knee in Week 12, and what seemed like a relatively benign injury had lasting ramifications.
He tried to return in the playoffs but was ineffective in a win over Houston and a divisional loss to New England. And that hyperextended knee turned out to reveal a ”non-functioning” ligament, causing Houston to undergo serious knee surgery in February 2016.
He wound up missing the first nine games that season, and after appearing in a handful midway through the year Youth Kyzir White Jersey , was shut down until the playoffs. The Chiefs had hoped Houston would be able to help them when it mattered, but he was again ineffective in a playoff loss to Pittsburgh.
Even last season, when Houston continually professed himself healthy, he never appeared to be going full speed. He was listed as questionable on the injury report twice because of his knee, and he finished the season with 9 sacks in 15 regular-season games.
It wasn’t until training camp, a few weeks back, that he acknowledged ”playing on one leg.”
”When you have surgery, and the surgery I had on my knee, it takes time,” Houston said. ”As much as you want to be ready, it still takes time to get your pop back and get where you want to be. I think I’m there. I think I’m beyond there right now and it feels great to be back in that feeling.”
His fellow linebackers have noticed, too.
”Justin, he’s starting to really go back to that 22-sack guy, so we have an opportunity to be one of the best (pass-rushing groups) in the league,” Dee Ford said. ”People don’t understand how bad his injury was and how he also tried to play, and he tried to come back too fast, and he’s not an excuse guy and you got to really respect that.”
One could argue that nobody is more crucial to the Chiefs’ defense than Houston Saints Rick Leonard Jersey , given the way the defense has been overhauled. Longtime pass rusher Tamba Hali is gone, and Ford has dealt with his share of injuries, resulting in a precipitous drop in sacks the past couple of years.
Throw in the departure of playmaking cornerback Marcus Peters, who was traded to the Rams in a move designed to improve club morale, and the pressure is on Houston to, well, create some pressure.
”Would you love to have a million sacks? Yeah, I would love that. But the biggest thing is always affecting the quarterback,” Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said. ”Obviously you can affect his timing. You don’t have to sack him. But as long as you are moving him, and making him get off that spot a little bit, then you can affect him.”
Houston should be able to help now that’s moving around more.
Both on his knee and all over the field.
NOTES: OLs Cam Erving (knee) and Eric Fisher (shoulder) left Thursday’s practice with ”tweaks,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. Mitchell Schwartz moved from RT to LT, Andrew Wylie took over at RT and Bryan Witzmann took over at LG. … The Chiefs are off Friday before resuming camp on Saturday.
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鈥?The value Saints coach Sean Payton sees in Benjamin Watson has little to do with the career-best receiving numbers the veteran tight end put up the last time he played for New Orleans in 2015.Watson wasn’t a featured receiver then, and won’t likely be this season, either.Payton figures he can count on Watson being an exemplary leader in the locker room, a willing role player who’ll rarely blow an assignment 鈥?and someone who remains skilled enough at age 37 to help Drew Brees punish defenses that pay too much attention to star play-makers such as receiver Michael Thomas and running back Alvin Kamara.Recalling a 2015 game in which Watson caught 10 passes for 127 yards and a touchdown against Atlanta, Payton said Authentic John Franklin-Myers Jersey , “I don’t know that the game plan called for that. It’s kind of just how it unfolded.”“With Ben, you know he’s someone that has versatility and he’s a super teammate,” Payton said. “He’s been a real dependable player. … You know exactly what you’re getting and there’s a value in that.”Similarly, Watson said it would be too simplistic to view his 2015 receiving numbers 鈥?74 catches for 825 yards and six touchdowns 鈥?as a main reason for his return to New Orleans after two years with Baltimore.“I don’t know what to expect. Every year is different,” Watson said after a voluntary offseason practice on Thursday. “Even when I was here the last time … I was here three years and my role was different every single year.“You contribute in different ways. You’re healthy or not healthy. Another guy’s healthy or not healthy. You may be strong in one position and weaker in other positions,” Watson said. “There’s just this mix that happens every single year and you really don’t know what it is, really, until the end of the year.”While Watson joined the Ravens in 2016, he missed that season because of a right Achilles tear. He came back last season, playing in all 16 games and catching 61 passes for 522 yards and four TDs.“I proved last year that I can be dependable, that I can play the game and that I can contribute in a number of different ways,” said Watson, who signed a one-year, $2 million free agent contract with the Saints in late March. “That’s why you sign guys to your team.”Watson has attended two of three voluntary practices open to media so far this offseason and doesn’t seem to have lost the chemistry he’d developed with quarterback Drew Brees, whom Watson calls “No. 9.”Watson does not describe himself as the type of dynamic play-maker who’ll be Brees’ No. 1 option on a lot of plays called, but added, “When you got a guy like No. 9 who can identify mismatches and knows what the coverage is going to do before it does it Marcedes Lewis Jersey , then you get the ball.”Watson began his career with New England, which made him a late-first-round draft choice out of Georgia in 2004. He was a Super Bowl champion as a seldom-used rookie, but hasn’t won a ring since establishing himself as an NFL regular.Watson views his return to New Orleans as a chance to join a contender, something the Saints weren’t when he last played for them in 2015.Last season, boosted by a core of rookies and second-year players in prominent roles, the Saints came one play away from advancing to the NFC championship game.“It’s about going places where not only do you have some familiarity 鈥?you enjoyed being there 鈥?but also giving yourself an opportunity to win,” Watson said. “Winning is a big deal. It doesn’t happen for a lot of players over the course of their career.”With the Saints, Watson said, “You have the coaching staff, you have the front office, you have the fan base, you have the quarterback. … That’s definitely made coming to New Orleans very attractive.”.