The Redskins' outside linebacker and special teams enforcer experienced his first major injury last December, but is in a much better head space this spring.
Houston Bates remembers the small but sharp pain he felt last December, when a trio of Carolina Panthers players collapsed onto him during a kickoff in the Redskins’ Monday Night Football matchup.
The outside linebacker thought he could fight their triple-team, dropped his foot back to anchor himself and, in his language, “it just went.” In medical language, his left anterior cruciate ligament had snapped, though Bates didn’t seem aware of just how bad his injury was.