On Tuesday, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell officially reinstated longtime Houston Texans middle linebacker Brian Cushing from his mandatory 10-game suspension when the team was granted a one-week roster exemption.
It was reported that Cushing met with Texans head coach Bill O'Brien on Tuesday, as Houston still needs to evaluate his conditioning levels to see if he's ready to play again this season.
“He’s been away from us for a while, obviously,” O’Brien said, per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle. “First things first, just personally we got to get caught up, see where he’s at, see how he’s doing, and then kind of go from there. Great guy, you guys know what I feel about Brian Cushing.”
Cushing served his second career suspension for violating the NFL's policy on performance-enhancing drugs without an appeal. Back in the 2o10-11 season, the former Defensive Rookie of the Year served his first suspension during his second year in the league.
Article Continues BelowCoach O'Brien praised Cushing for his contributions to the team over the years and looks forward to the linebacker putting the mistakes behind him.
“I think that everybody makes mistakes and sometimes you pay for your mistakes in different ways,” O'Brien said of Cushing. “He’s meant a lot to me in my four years here. He’s a tough guy, been a captain for us. I’m just looking forward to sitting down with him and talking to him and kind of seeing where he’s at with everything.”
In 100 career regular season games, Cushing has racked up 652 tackles, recorded 13 sacks and has intercepted eight passes.