Texans Pro Bowl left offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil underwent successful surgery Thursday afternoon in Houston to repair a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly.
Tunsil is expected to have a recovery time of four to six weeks and eventually be placed on injured reserve, according to sources.
"Laremy Tunsil will be having surgery on his thumb," Texans coach David Culley said Wednesday. "We felt like it was best for him to get it done now and return in hopefully the next few weeks."
One of the top blockers in the NFL, Tunsil was initially going to attempt to play through the injury and forego surgery until after the season, but it was determined that the best course of action was to immediately have surgery. The UCL is attached to the middle joint of the thumb, which keeps the thumb stable to allow to pinch and grasp objects.
The Texans went with Geron Christian at left tackle when Tunsil got hurt Sunday against the New England Patriots. Christian will be the starting left tackle Sunday against the Indianapolis Colts and Tytus Howard will remain at left guard.
Tunsil left during a 25-22 loss to the Patriots in the first half after falling on the ground while blocking in the final minutes of the second quarter.
One year after signing Tunsil to a three-year, $66 million contract extension that included $50 million guaranteed with a $13 million signing bonus, the Texans restructured that deal this offseason to create $10.106 million in salary cap space. Signed to a three-year, $66 million contract extension a year ago that included $50 million guaranteed with a $13 million signing bonus with an average of $22 million annually, Tunsil's original $16.15 million base salary was converted into a $15.16 million signing bonus. He now has a $990,000 fully guaranteed base salary for 2021 and a salary cap figure of $9.29 million, down from $19.4 million.
Including the fifth-year club option of $10.85 million Tunsil was paid last year, the deal still has a total value of $76.35 million.
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