John Dorsey made it clear as day. The Kansas City Chiefs expect Justin Houston to be playing this season.

In fact, Dorsey offered no qualifications. He said that Houston will play this season.

"Our doctors have reassured us that he will be playing this season," Dorsey said on Friday.

Why is this notable? Because there were rumors, including from ESPN's Adam Schefter, that Houston could miss the entire season after ACL surgery in February. It didn't seem likely he would be out all year but Dorsey flat-out said he would play this year.

Dorsey also said that Houston is ahead of schedule. What does that mean? I have no idea but I guess it sounds good. Houston is a workout machine so I could believe any timetable on him.

Houston, for his part, laughed off talk that he would miss the season. There does seem to be the possibility that Houston will miss at least part of the season. A week? A month? Six weeks? I have no idea but the Chiefs are about as prepared as an NFL team can be to lose their top pass rusher. Not many teams have a Tamba Hali and a Dee Ford sitting there to replace Houston.