Kansas City Chiefs active OLB Justin Houston from PUP list

KANSAS CITY, Mo., Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Quarterbacks facing the Kansas City Chiefs this season just got a little more nervous.

The Chiefs activated linebacker Justin Houston to its active roster from the reserve/PUP list Wednesday. Houston's status for Sunday "is not yet set," according to the Chiefs.

"You're talking about one of the elite players in this league especially when it comes to getting after the quarterback," quarterback Alex Smith told Chiefs.com. "That's such a priority for every NFL team—whether it's getting to the quarterback or protecting him. To have him back, his presence and leadership and his energy is something everyone feeds off of. It will be good to have him back on the field with us."

Houston, who had surgery this offseason to repair left knee injuries, was placed on the PUP list on Aug. 30. He returned to Chiefs practice on Oct. 19.

The six-year veteran has 264 tackles, 56 sacks, eight forced fumbles, and three interceptions in his career.

"I can tell you that he's made tremendous strides from that first week he was out there to last week," coach Andy Reid told Chiefs.com. "He went from doing all the periods from just doing kind of the individual, the plays – the seven-on-seven things where there wasn't a lot of contact. He jumped in and did all the contact things last week. You could just tell his awareness out there was better, the speed of the game, it looked like he was settling down to that a little bit."

Dee Ford and Tamba Hali have filled in for Houston. The Chiefs defense has committed the second-fewest penalties in the NFL and have allowed the second-fewest points in the AFC.