Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt gave a speech at the end of practice on Tuesday that chilled his teammates.
However, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, who is making a return from a torn pectoral on Oct. 27 that seemingly ended his season, is downplaying the impact of his words.
“I didn’t really give a speech,” Watt told reporters Wednesday. “I broke it down at the end of practice. Somebody’s got to break it down every day. Yesterday was my day so I broke it down. There’s really not much more to it than that. It was pretty standard.”
Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil was one of the Texans who went on record and used the term “chills” to describe the feeling that Watt’s words left with the team.
“I appreciate that,” Watt said. “We can laugh about it, but coming from teammates and especially a guy like Laremy who is well respected, who’s extremely good at what he does and whose opinion I value very much, for a guy like him to say something like that means a lot to me.
“It’s nice to know that the words that you say and the message you try and get across does hit home. Like I said, I respect Laremy. I respect all those guys in that locker room so I appreciate if they did take notice.”
Returner DeAndre Carter, who has been with the Texans since midway through the 2018 season, expressed that the content of Watt’s breakdown at the end of practice Tuesday was what the team needed to hear. While Watt acknowledged Carter’s summary, he didn’t elaborate.
Said Watt: “I’m not going to go into details about what it was, it was just what I felt needed to be said. It’s very important, it’s a huge week. This is the NFL playoffs. 20 teams are at home, only 12 are left, so it’s very, very big.”
The Texans host the Buffalo Bills Saturday at 3:35 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium in the AFC wild-card. A win would get the Texans to their first divisional playoff since 2016 and their fourth ever in club history, and would set the club up with a legitimate chance to earn their first trip to the AFC championship game.