Johnathan Joseph Had Two Sports Hernias, Had Surgery, And We're Just Now Hearing About It

Johnathan Joseph wasn't the same guy in 2012. In 2011, he was the rarest of defensive backs--a true shutdown corner. Last year? Not so much. Indeed, Kareem Jackson, longtime (deserved) whipping boy of Texans fans, legitimately outplayed J-Jo last year. Don't take that as me underselling Ice Kareem; he was a revelation in 2012. Still, J-Jo didn't look like the J-Jo of '11. We knew he battled a groin injury from September on. What we didn't know, until James Palmer of CSN Houston reported it earlier today, was that Joseph, in addition to the aforementioned groin injury, battled not one, but TWO, sports hernias last year.

"With the groin issues and everything behind me and the sports hernia on both sides, I had both those fixed," Joseph said Thursday. "Now I have more pop, more explosion with my legs. I can run all day again."

"I'm just glad to have it behind me," Joseph said. "I'm feeling better than I've ever felt. I told somebody that yesterday. I was just excited that I got it fixed just to see where I am at on the field. And I'm having probably the best OTAs I've had in four or five years."

Two takeaways from that, I'd say:

1. Watch out, receivers matched up against J-Jo in 2013.

2. How absurd is it that we're just now hearing about this? How, in a world that has multiple credentialed reporters on the Texans beat, did the team manage to keep Joseph's condition such a secret? Especially when the team has leaked word about the exact same injury to explain a previous star's performance?