How is Texans DE J.J. Watt handling the COVID-19 pandemic?

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt says he is like everybody else in the way that the COVID-19 pandemic has affected his daily routine.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has affected the lives of almost everyone on the planet, and NFL superstars such as the Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt is no exception.

The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year met with Houston reporters via video conferencing on Wednesday, and Watt said he is trying to “wade through” the information like everyone else.

However, the defensive end does need to get ready for his 10th season in the league, so certain aspects of his routine have continued.

“For me personally, I go to the gym, and the gym is obviously fully wiped down and there’s protocols in place and you’re not close to anybody, things like that,” Watt said. “But other than that, I don’t really leave my house a whole lot.”

Occasionally, Watt will leave his home to pick up food, but with his wife, Kealia Ohai, preparing for a possible tournament style season with the Chicago Red Stars of the National Women’s Soccer League, the 31-year-old is home alone with the dogs.

“It’s just me and the dogs down here in Houston,” Watt said. “They love that because I throw the tennis ball 650 times an hour and when I’m not training that’s literally all I do.”

The pandemic has disrupted appointments, routines, and other staples that make time pass on a daily and weekly basis. A new part of Watt’s schedule has been his “Ultimate Tag” show, which he shot over the 2019 summer and co-hosted with his brothers, Derek Watt and T.J. Watt, both of the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“I think the best part about it is I get to share it with my brothers, and parents got to be out there for filming last year,” Watt said. “We had a lot of fun with it and it’s a foray into a foreign situation for us, and for it to have success in its premier [May 20], we were just very thankful to all the fans and we’re glad they like it.”

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