Hubbard gave everything he had to gut through the injury during the 2023 season.

Remember when Sam Hubbard had offseason ankle surgery? Well, the injury it fixed was apparently worse than we realized.

According to ESPN’s Ben Baby, the Cincinnati Bengals defensive end had extensive ankle surgery to repair the injury he suffered in training camp and reaggravated in Week 9 against the Bills.

The surgery was to complete a deltoid reconstruction and perform a tightrope procedure on Hubbard’s right ankle, which was originally thought to have suffered a sprain.

After the season, a fluoroscopy revealed instability in the ankle that should have been surgically addressed earlier.

Hubbard is happy there wasn’t any damage the surgery couldn’t address.

“I’m thankful that I made it out with no cartilage damage and stuff like that, but it’s all fixed,” he said Monday.

Hubbard was playing lights out before he missed the two games near mid-season, but when he came back to the field, he wasn’t quite the same. He said he just wanted to be on the field doing the best he could to help the team win in Burrow’s absence.

“I kind of wanted to just be out there and was doing the best I could,” he said. “I did want to burn that film from the back half of the year, but I’m going to get back to my old self. Got a long offseason of work ahead, and I’m excited to be back with the guys.”

Hubbard, a seven-year vet, has held the edge opposite Trey Hendrickson, a more talented pass rusher, and excelled when he’s healthy. He’s made big play after big play in big moments and is a huge reason the Bengals have found so much postseason success.

Hopefully, he’s ready to go when the first whistle blows Week 1.