Even though ESPN's Stephan A. Smith thought that Los Angeles Chargers tight end Hunter Henry was going to be a key to last week's game, he hasn't played all season long due to a torn ACL. Maybe Smith was on to something though because Henry has returned to practice and there is a chance he could return in time for the NFL playoffs.

Henry remains on the physically unable to perform list and currently does not count towards the Chargers 53-man roster. Since he started practicing the team now has 21 days to decide if they will keep him on the list, or activate him to the roster.

Henry injured his ACL and May, and it has been a quick recovery process, but Henry is not surprised that is has gone so far.

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“I'm not surprised,” Henry said via Chargers.com. “I had (being back) in my mind, and tried to push for that since the get-go. I worked as hard as I could, and there's a lot of work still to do to get back out there…. It’ll be different but good to get back in the flow of things. I'm geared up and ready to go, but it's a long journey, and it's cool to have an opportunity like this.”

Hunter knows there is a chance that he won't return this year, but he still can't help but think how special it would be to play this year.

“You got to think about (it long term),” he said. “If I feel good, I'm going to give it my best shot. You don't get a team like this a lot. I've already seen that in just two years of being here, so you have to take advantage of trying to get back out there.”