The Houston Texans pass rush will receive a massive boost for their wild-card weekend bout with the Buffalo Bills. Defensive end J.J. Watt is back and has been activated from injured reserve per Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle.
Texans activated J.J. Watt from injured reserve-designated to return, per NFL personnel notice. They placed safety Tashaun Gipson on injured reserve. He hasn't been on the injury report, though
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 31, 2019
Watt has been on injured reserve since tearing his pectoral in Week 8 against the Oakland Raiders. He had to spend eight regular-season weeks on the injured reserve to come back and play in the playoffs, which he completed.
Before the injury, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year recorded four sacks, 20 quarterback hits and 24 quarterback pressures. He will wear a harness on his pectoral to prevent re-injury.
“Yeah, I’ll have some protection on it just to protect me from going to the true extreme lengths backwards, but I’ll have full forward and upward motion available,” Watt said on Dec. 24. “I’ve been wearing the harness for the last couple of weeks while I’ve been training and practicing and practicing off on my own so it doesn’t really bother me at all.”
Watt returned to practice before the season finale loss to the Tennessee Titans. He said he felt good when doing so.
“I feel extremely excited about being able to be back on the practice field with the guys,” Watt said. “The medical team here has done a great job. There’s obviously an element of risk involved that I understand and we understand, but to me, the opportunity to play in the playoffs, the opportunity to try and help this team win football games, there’s nothing that I want more and there’s nothing that – it’s built into me, I just want to be on the field with the guys and I feel really good. We’ve worked extremely hard at rehab, we’ve had a very smooth process and everything has been going extremely well.”
Considering the status of the Texans’ dismal pass rush, Watt is a much-needed addition for a wild card team that seeks to go to the Super Bowl after a 10-6 despite a gauntlet schedule.