Tag: j.j. watt injury

Texans DE J.J. Watt had hesitation in using bull rush against the Bills

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt said he was a bit hesitant to bull rush against the Buffalo Bills, but he eventually got it down.

Returning to football shape two months after tearing a pectoral isn’t easy. Returning to football shape as a defensive end, who is reliant on chest movement and strength, is harder. The Houston Texans’ J.J. Watt accomplished both.

In the wild-card round, Watt made his return after tearing his pectoral in Week 8 against the Oakland Raiders. Getting there wasn’t easy, especially considering that he had to break mental barriers to re-introduce a staple of his rushing plan: the bull rush.

“I’ve worked on it in practice the week before,” Watt said on the bull rush on Wednesday. “I’ve tried it, I’ve tested it out and it’s one of those things that the first time I did it in practice, I was obviously slightly hesitant with it, just because it was the first time I was doing it. I wanted to see how it felt. It held up, so then I tried it again in practice and then the second, third, fourth time I did it, I was like ‘OK, we’re fine.'”

Watt tallied a sack and two quarterback hits during the win. It took a while to unlock the bull rush, but once he got it, he was back. The move, that relies heavily on power from the chest, felt just as it used to be.

“Once you translate over to the game, it’s almost like the same process a little bit starting over,” Watt said. “So, the first time you do it, you throw it in there but you don’t fully throw it in there. It wasn’t my best one of all time, but you get more confident with and as you go, you kind of forget about it all.”

By the time the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year got to the fourth quarter, it was “football as usual.”

Said Watt: “I’m not going to lie to you, there was a slight bit of hesitation with it just because subconsciously your mind kind of takes it over. But as I go along and as I continue to get stronger, that’ll go away.”

Watt has another chance to use the bull rush and get back into football shape as the Texans face the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday at 2:05 p.m. CT in the AFC divisional at Arrowhead Stadium.

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Texans fans were the driving force behind J.J. Watt’s quick recovery

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt made his recovery back from a torn pectoral on Tuesday. What’s his mental state after doing so?

J.J. Watt is back from his torn pectoral. Two months after suffering the once-thought-to-be season-ending injury, the Houston Texans defensive end is practicing and primed to play in the postseason.

What’s Watt’s mental state after surprisingly coming back from injury?

“I’m excited,” Watt said on Tuesday. “I’m excited to play football, I’m excited to get back out there and hopefully get back on the field in front of the fans. I love the fans, I’m excited. The fans are a big part of the reason that I want to be out there and I’ve worked so hard to come back. It’s because I love these fans, I love this city and I want nothing more than to win for these people. So, that’s why every single day, when you’re going through rehab, when you’re going through difficult times, when you’re going through tough situations.”

For Watt, the focal point and driving force of his recovery are the fans. That should come as no surprise, of course, considering his public love for them, from playing catch before games with them to raising millions of dollars to support them after Hurricane Harvey struck Houston. His teammates and family are fudge on top of the sundae.

“Some days you don’t feel like doing it, some days it’s very tough,” Watt said. “What gets you through is your teammates and your family and the fans, and knowing that when you do get back on that field, you’re doing it for people that you care about and that you love. You want to do it so that you can give them something to be proud of. Every day that I’ve had a tough day in my rehab, that’s what I’ve thought about.”

Watt’s not doing it for the fans’ viewing pleasure alone. He wants to bring a Super Bowl to Houston. With the Texans in the playoffs, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year has the chance to do so.

“Running back out of that tunnel, playing in front of those fans with my teammates and being able to do for them what I’ve wanted to do since the day I got here and that’s win,” Watt said. “That’s what I’m trying to do. That’s why after two months, I’m coming back because that’s what I want to accomplish. I want to win for these people.

“So is there an element of risk? Yes. But is the upside 100 times better? Yes. Because there’s nothing I want to do more than to win with these guys in the locker room, for these fans here in Houston, because I love them and I love the game.”

The city of Houston has not had their NFL team play in the AFC Championship game since the 1979 season when the Houston Oilers fell short to the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-13. Watt’s Texans would have a similarly special place in the hearts of Houston sports fans if they could get into the NFL’s final four or beyond this postseason.

Texans DE J.J. Watt will wear a harness to protect re-injury of torn pectoral

Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt will wear a harness to prevent re-injury of his torn pectoral muscle. He returned to practice on Tuesday.

J.J. Watt is back. Two months after tearing his pectoral against the Oakland Raiders, the Houston Texans defensive end is recovered and ready to rock and all. He returned to practice on Tuesday, Christmas Eve.

In coming back from the injury, Watt has defied all expectations. Often, the recovery time for a torn pectoral lasts three to four months. Not for Watt.

Though back from the often season-ending injury, Watt will not be without accessories. He will wear a harness that will stop him from going an extreme length backward, but it will not hinder his normal range of motion.

“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 Tuesday. “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.”

The harness Watt will don is in-place to prevent re-injury, which is likelier to happen considering how quickly he is set to play. When he was injured making a tackle on Raiders tailback Josh Jacobs, his arm went all the way back. The harness will stop that.

Watt wears a bulky brace on his left elbow. He suffered an elbow dislocation in August of 2012.

Though now protected from re-injury, Watt will not play in Week 17 against the Tennessee Titans. A player on the injured reserve has to miss at least eight games. The Texans star defensive end missed seven. His return will probably take place in the first round of the playoffs.

Watt will give the Texans a massive boost in the pass rush department. Before the injury, the three-time Defensive Player of the Year recorded four sacks, 20 quarterback hits and 24 quarterback pressures.