Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt made a December football miracle come true as he came off of injured reserve and rejoined the team at practice Tuesday.
Though Watt has the credentials and the impact to affect positive change for the Texans’ defense when the club plays its wild-card playoff game at NRG Stadium of the weekend of Jan. 4-5, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year can’t simply show up on game day and picked up where he left off after tearing his pectoral muscle in a 27-24 win over the Oakland Raiders on Oct. 27.
“I’ll practice this week and work my way back into practice and obviously next week continue to practice and then get ready for the playoff game,” Watt told reporters Tuesday. “But I’ll start today working my way back into practice, not going crazy with it, but easing my way back in. Then throughout the rest of this week and then obviously next week, practice leading up to the playoff game.”
The Texans face the Tennessee Titans Sunday at 3:25 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium. The game is consequential for the Titans as a win ensures their spot as the No. 6 seed, the last spot remaining, in the AFC playoffs. However, for the Texans, a win would not get them out of wild-card weekend and into a first-round bye. In fact, to move up and be the No. 3 seed, which could mean a rematch with the Titans or facing the Raiders or Pittsburgh Steelers by some sort of tiebreaker luck, the Texans would have to beat the Titans and hope for a Kansas City Chiefs loss to the Los Angeles Chargers.
The risk is not worth the reward, especially when the goal is for Watt to return for the postseason.
“I mean obviously that’s the plan, that’s the goal,” said Watt. “Today’s my first day on the practice field so we have to make sure that that goes as well as we expect it to and just progress from there.
“But yes, the plan is for the first playoff game.”