Several prominent Texans players are returning from injuries in 2013.
Brian Cushing is coming off a torn ACL. Ed Reed is recovering from offseason hip surgery. Right tackle Derek Newton (knee) and wide receiver DeVier Posey (Achilles) also are coming off of offseason surgeries.
Lost in the discussion has been defensive end Tim Jamison, who tore his Achilles in Week 6 of last season. Like Cushing, Jamison has been steadily rehabbing with trainers on a side field during spring practices. And like Cushing, he could be healthy for the start of training camp.
"He's doing good," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "That's a hard injury to come back from. He's really, basically, almost cleared. It's just about confidence in what he's doing, and we're hoping that by training camp, he's pretty close to full speed and ready to go."
Before his injury last season, Jamison was the Texans' top reserve defensive end behind J.J. Watt and Antonio Smith. He had three tackles, one sack and one pass defensed in six games. He played in all 16 games in 2011 and had 19 tackles, two sacks and one forced fumble.
Jamison, or "J-Mo" as his teammates call him, was undrafted out of Michigan in 2009. He has been cut by the Texans three times and had three stints on the practice squad in his first two seasons. His dependable play earned him a two-year contract extension last September.
"He was playing really well," Kubiak said. "He was kind of a swing guy when we got started (last season) before he got hurt. But Timmy's a journeyman, plays hard, great rotational player for you. We're hoping we can get him back to where he was."
Texans defensive line coach Bill Kollar also looks forward to Jamison's return.
"Jamison's done a heck of a job ever since he got here as a free agent rookie out of Michigan, and we really like him," Kollar said in mid-May. "We're just hoping that he's able to end up coming back and he's at full speed by the time training camp gets started."
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