Eric Winston says his ankle is fine

Newly signed offensive tackle Eric Winston pronounced his ankle healthy, and he'll be on the practice field when off-season activities begin.
Houston released Winston, a six-year starter, in part because of salary cap issues and also because the Texans were concerned about his ankle.
But Winston, who has made 87 starts in his six years, said he had an ankle scope that cleaned up any problems.

"The problem is I didn’t have it until the end of the year," said Winston, who signed a contract for four years worth up to $21 million "I kind of waited to see what it was going to do … I had the typical sprained ankles from a youth playing basketball … and football and all kinds of other sports.
"Just got a little clean out, and now I’m fine. I just hasve to get my final release from the doctor, and we’ll be good to go.”

Winston, 28, had not considered signing with the Chiefs after his released, but he appreciated the fullcourt press put on by Chiefs General Manager Scott Pioli, coach Romeo Crennel and others on the staff.

"Kansas City was a place I wasn’t familiar with, I came in with open eyes …" Winston said. "To tell you the truth, I thought it was more of a rust-belt city … when you get there, you learn it’s far from it, it’s a beautiful city, a beautiful place, I was blown away with the overlall atmosphere of Kansas City."

Winston, part of an offensive line that helped the Texans finish second in the NFL in rushing yards and paved the way for the first postseason appearance and win in franchise history last year as disappointed to have to leave Houston.

"When you’re part of a building project, I got here in '06, same time coach (Gary) Kubiak did. We were 6-10 that first year, 8-8 a bunch of years, and last year we broke through. Of course it’s frustrating, you establish a base and a lot of friends and you want to see it through.

"I wanted to see it through from the sense of how much work I put into it, and from the sense I feel like there’s some unfinished business. But that’s modern NFL, that’s salary cap, and that’s the way things go."

But he saw some parallels to the Chiefs.

"I’ll be in a similar situation with a team that is on the brink of breaking through, so I feel like I’m going to a really good situation where it’s not that much different," Winston said of Kansas City.

"It’s a city that wants to win and wants to win badly. And it’s a team that is on the brink of doing it. I wouldn’t have come to Kansas City for any other reason than to win … and looking at the roster, and looking at the moves that have been made, we’re going to have the pieces.

"I looked at their season last year, an d it reminded me of the Texans season in 2010, that there were some high hopes going into the season, you thought you had all the pieces in place, and things happened … we had several injuries and lost a lot of close games, and you look at that and you look at what happened in Kansas City … where Matt Cassel was hurt, and Eric Berry … Jamaal Charles, who I think might be one of the most explosive backs in the league … you look at everything that happened, and they’re still a play away from being in the playoffs.

"That says something about the resiliency of the team that is already there. I know how tough that is, and looking at that, and saying, maybe I can be a big part of a come back and getting over the hump.”


(chiefsblog.com)