The defensive end finally feels right.

With the recent wave of free agency, Sam Hubbard is now the Cincinnati Bengals’ longest-tenured player. He’s also 11th on the franchise’s list of all-time sack leaders with

36.5.

So it’s good news that he feels like himself again.

After last season, Hubbard underwent ankle surgery to alleviate a lingering issue. And it turns out, that was the right decision.

“I’m feeling really good. Really glad I got it fixed. Been bugging me for a long time,” Hubbard told Bengals.com’s Geoff Hobson. He added that the treatment is allowing him to move and play like he wants to.

Hubbard, who was drafted in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft, is a local kid, having been born in Cincinnati and attending Moeller High School before going to Ohio State.

So it was fitting that, in that legendary fumble return for a touchdown against the Baltimore Ravens in the 2023 Wild Card round, Mike Tirico called Hubbard “the Cincinnati kid”. But Hubbard won’t be a kid for much longer, as he turns 29 in June.