HOUSTON -- Houston Texans inside linebacker Brian Cushing played part of 2014 with a broken right wrist and underwent surgery after the season to have it repaired.
"I got surgery because it was something that had to be fixed," said Cushing who this past season also had to work through the residual effects of two knee surgeries in the prior two offseasons.
"But I was playing with it broken for a while. ... It was kind of one of those things, after a game I woke up and it was sore. I've bumped my wrist before ... didn't think it was a big deal, got a little better, got a little worse. This kept getting worse and worse. I figured something was up with it."
Though it's something he'd rather not be dealing with, this particular recovery process will be significantly easier than the previous two the 28-year-old experienced. In 2012, Cushing tore his anterior cruciate ligament on Oct. 8. Then in 2013, Cushing broke his leg and suffered a torn lateral collateral ligament on Oct. 20. The two major surgeries on the same knee took a toll.
He missed two games as the Texans gave his knee a rest and was limited in several more games, especially on third- and fourth-down snaps.
Cushing said the wrist comes with a three-month recovery time. He suspects part of that is to force him not to push himself.
"I do need to take time off," Cushing said. "I think that's kind of the reason I'm really in a cast for a long time. Originally they told me four weeks. Then all of a sudden, eight weeks. I think they just wanted me to limit what I'm doing. ... I have a very aggressive mindset on training. I'm not really big about easing into things. I've done it for a long time and it's worked for me. I kind of have a mindset about it. Sometimes have to tone it down, especially as I'm getting older."