Texans defensive tackle Travis Johnson, a 2005 first-rounder whose time in the NFL has led to mixed results at best, disclosed Tuesday that he recently has had surgery to repair a chronic condition.
“I just had sports hernia surgery on the right side,” Johnson told FOX 26 in Houston. “It feels good. I finally got a lot of this pain out of my mid-section.”
But he had the procedure only three weeks ago. And training camp opens in only nine days.
And the fact that the condition wasn’t corrected until very recently likely is causing some consternation in Houston, since Johnson undoubtedly will begin camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list, missing valuable preseason practices.
At this point, it’s not clear whether the delay resulted from the team’s failure to properly diagnose the problem or whether Johnson dragged his feet regarding a repair. Regardless, it’s clear that the problem has been around for a while.
“My body started breaking down with the hamstrings and the groins,” Johnson said. “Everything was over-compensating for the fact that I had a hernia.
“It just took its toll on my body. I went to go see a specialist in St. Louis and that’s what it came out to be.”
Regardless of whether who -- if anyone -- bears the blame for this, the reality is that the hernia could have been fixed much earlier in the offseason, allowing Johnson to report for camp at 100 percent.