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On Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Steelers announced that outside linebacker T.J. Watt had returned to practice. This opens up the 21-day window for the Steelers to either activate Watt to the 53-man roster or he would miss the entire season on IR. The team also announced that wide receiver Calvin Austin III had a setback on his foot injury and won’t be activated and instead will miss the season and is headed to surgery.
Watt has been sidelined with a partially torn pectoral since the first game of the season. The timeline on his recovery from the beginning was four to six weeks and he seems to be right on schedule. This week the Steelers are taking on the Philadelphia Eagles and there’s very little chance Watt plays this week.
Then the team gets its bye week before returning to take on the New Orleans Saints in Week 10. This is the most likely time Pittsburgh gets Watt back on the field.
Without Watt, the Steeler defense has been lost. The pass rush has dried up and the rest of the defense suffers because of it. Once Watt returns, Pittsburgh will have nine games to try and rally after a poor start. Last season, Watt tied the single-season sack record with 22.5 sacks and won Defensive Player of the Year.
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