ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) – The massive linebacker with the sweat-drenched biceps insists he never took a day off this offseason, even if he never showed up for one of the Kansas City Chiefs’ workouts. Early in training camp, it’s easy to believe him.

With his familiar No. 50 stretched across his broad shoulders, Justin Houston has wasted no time in terrorizing quarterbacks again – even if they happened to be his own teammates. While the Chiefs worked out in only shells during the first couple of days, and hitting the QB is always taboo this time of year, more than once Houston could have easily leveled the boom.

“I just made sure about being busy at all times,” said Houston, who often posted videos of his offseason workouts on social media while his representatives worked on a long-term contract. The deal was consummated just over a week ago, a six-year, $101 million pact.

Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz talked about the basics in an appearance at Big Ten media day. He says they have to fill some holes on both sides of the line to have success this season. “If you look at our football team, we have two outstanding senior defensive tackles, two outstanding offensive tackles. So the discussion really starts kind of there,” Ferentz says. “The good news is I think we have good players that are working hard to try to follow those players. Follow in their footsteps. They’re progressing. And certainly what we do in the next month is going to be really important for our development as a football team.”

Once the fill in the spots on the lines, they need to work on depth. “We need to develop depth at the quarterback position, receiver position as well. Defensively, the two defensive tackles, replacing those guys, developing depth there. The linebacker spot, we lost Quinton Alston, our middle linebacker. We feel pretty good about the group we have, and then a safety spot at the back end. So those areas are things we’ve been addressing,” Ferentz says.

Tight end Jake Duzey was injured in spring practice, but the coach is optimistic they’ll get him back. “The only good thing that came out of that was it’s not going to be a season-ending injury. So his rehab has gone very well. He’s making good strides,” according to Ferentz. “I think where we’re at right now, the next four weeks will be really critical how the four weeks go for him. And we’re optimistic. We’ll cross that bridge when we get to it, but we’re optimistic he’ll be able to return sometime in September.”

Iowa is picked to finish 4th in the Big Ten West this season.

(Learfield Sports)