KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston, who hasn't practiced this season after having ACL surgery, at least made an appearance at Monday's workout. Houston worked off to the side with a trainer during a portion of practice.
Houston left the field during practice. On his way, he stopped to watch the defensive linemen go through their drills for a couple of minutes before retreating to the locker room.
This was Houston's first appearance at Chiefs practice this year. He is still rehabbing after mid-February surgery and it remains unclear when he will return to the Chiefs lineup or whether he will at all this season.
Some other notes from Monday's practice:
Rookie defensive lineman Chris Jones has been so impressive the Chiefs evidently no longer think of him as a backup. All of Jones snaps were with the starting group as part of a rotation with Dontari Poe, Allen Bailey and Jaye Howard. Jones got no work when the backups were on the field. Jones at one point took the field with the backups during a goal-line drill but was called off by defensive line coach Britt Reid.
The Chiefs continue to get linebacker Tamba Hali ready to play in the regular season. He received a significant number of snaps with the first group. Hali, Frank Zombo and Dee Ford rotated as the first-team outside linebackers.
In a sign the Chiefs are focused solely on the regular season, the only quarterbacks to get snaps in full team and 7-on-7 passing drills were the starter, Alex Smith, and the primary backup, Nick Foles. The other quarterbacks, Tyler Bray, Aaron Murray and Kevin Hogan, got no work in these drills.
