Hunter Henry returns to Chargers practice

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Chargers tight end Hunter Henry limped off the field on his own after injuring his right knee during the first day of organized team activities.

He was told it was a torn ACL and his 2018 season was likely over before it started. That was seven months ago.

Henry began running with a large knee brace, but still the plan was for him to play next season. That was four months ago.

Plans have changed.

Henry returned to practice Monday, but remains on the “physically unable to perform” list.

The Chargers now have 21 days to decide if the third-year tight end will rejoin the team for their playoff run or place him on injured reserve to officially end his 2018 season that was supposed to be over in May.

“I worked hard to get here,” Henry said before practice. “I feel good. Just excited to get going again. “(The knee has) been responding well. It’s a long process. I tried to attack it from the get go.”

Chargers coach Anthony Lynn hinted at Henry’s possible return before practice.

“Don’t be surprised to see him work his way back in,” Lynn said. “He may do some things on the side this week in some individual drills. He may start that as early as (Monday).”

Henry did more than individual side drills. He was on the field with a helmet on and participated in blocking and catching drills with the tight ends during the media viewing portion of practice.

When Henry was injured May 22 on a routine non-contact play, it was a feeling of “here we go again” for a franchise that has been snake-bitten by injuries in the past few years.

Henry’s injury was labeled as season-ending by many, but he refused to accept that.

“I’m not surprised,” Henry said. “I kind of had that in my mind (to play this season). Just tried to push for that from the get-go. Just worked as hard as I could, but there’s still a lot of work to do to get back out there.”

Henry said he received added motivation to make a quick recovery because of the team’s recent success. The Chargers are tied for the best record in the AFC at 11-3 and cliched their first postseason berth in five years after defeating the Kansas City Chiefs last week.

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