Less than nine months after he was in a wheelchair, DeVier Posey might soon be back on the practice field for the Texans.
The second-year wide receiver tore an Achilles during the playoff loss at New England, went through surgery and has attacked the rehab process. His progress has been so encouraging that head coach Gary Kubiak said the team will likely take Posey off the training camp physically unable to perform (PUP) list in a matter of days.
"It looks like we're very close to pulling him off PUP after this game," Kubiak said after Wednesday morning's practice. "Hopefully he's back out here working next week."
Posey, as he's done throughout OTA's and training camp, worked on the side fields this morning. Kubiak said the last few days, the wideout from Ohio State has run "a lot of routes the last two days". At the conclusion of practice, he stuck to his same routine as well, catching passes from the JUGS machine with his teammates. He's excited about how his rehab has gone, but said it's within the six to nine month range he originally targeted.
"I dedicated everything to this injury and it's changed my life, really," Posey said. "As far as just being here for those four months while everyone else was away, vacationing. I was here in the training room and I couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel."
Posey said his biggest challenge now is "conditioning" and getting his "wind back to where it was" before he went down. As a rookie in 2012 he caught six passes for 87 yards. In the postseason loss to the Patriots, he hauled in three catches for 47 yards and a score. During November and December he showed marked signs of improvement during practice, and Kubiak said the addition will be a big bonus for the offense.
"It's huge, because that thought process was in the offseason was that it probably wasn't going to happen this early," Kubiak said. "But it sure looks like he's got a chance. That would be a huge boost to our team."
