Bengals helmet Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

Cincinnati Bengals star defensive end Sam Hubbard was available to play for the team down the stretch and was not on the team’s injury report, but it seems that he wasn’t exactly healthy, either.

During a recent interview session at the Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama this week, Cincinnati Bengals director of player personnel Duke Tobin revealed that Sam Hubbard played through an injury toward the end of the season that actually required surgery once the season was over.

“He was just a warrior and played through things most human beings wouldn’t play through and gave us the opportunity to go out there with a chance to win. That’s what Sam Hubbard is all about,” Tobin said according to the Cincinnati Bengals team website.

Tobin did not disclose the injury that Hubbard was playing through at the need of the season, but he did say that he is confident that “he’ll revert back to the old Sam Hubbard” as soon as he recovers from the surgery.

Obviously, this is an insane sign of toughness from Hubbard, especially considering that he played the final game of the season against the Cleveland Browns when the Bengals were already eliminated from playoff contention.

[Cincinnati Bengals]