Watson, now healthy, eager for more work
Young QB seen as linchpin for Texans
HOUSTON — Deshaun Watson was back in a game this week for the first time since surgery to repair a right knee injury in November, and although he didn’t play long, he relished his return.
“I just played five snaps, handed the ball off, threw one pass,” Watson said. “So, it wasn’t too bad. Good to just go out there for a couple plays and then watch everyone else perform.”
The Houston Texans quarterback is looking to build on his limited action as the team prepares for two practices with the San Francisco 49ers next week before hosting them in their second preseason game on Saturday.
Watson’s health and development in his second year will be critical as Houston tries to bounce back from a season filled with injuries during which the team went 4-12 for its first losing season since 2013. Though he played in just seven games before tearing his anterior cruciate ligament in practice, Watson gave the Texans optimism that he’ll be the answer to their longtime problems at the position.
He threw for 1,699 yards and 19 touchdowns and ran for 269 yards and two more scores after Houston traded up to select him with the 12th overall pick in the 2017 draft.
Saturday was the team’s first practice back in Houston after the Texans spent the first part of training camp in West Virginia. Although they had to adjust to the hotter temperatures at home, Watson and the Texans got a boost from working out in front of several hundred cheering fans.
“The climate … it’s hot and muggy but at the end of the day we have to come out here and play football and perform and just focus on our task,” he said. “So, it’s always good to have the fans around and show love. They give us energy and high hopes for this season.”
The 22-year-old said he’s grown a lot since arriving in Houston last season and is looking forward to building on what he did last year.
“Just really (grown) as a person as a whole and then just the knowledge of the game,” he said. “Just being able to understand the offense, understand what the defense is doing and just play faster, just go out there and play and not overthink things.”
REDSKINS: Washingtons coach Jay Gruden doesn’t expect to go looking for another running back after losing promising rookie Derrius Guice to a torn ACL in his left knee in the preseason opener.
“We have guys that are here and in play,” Gruden said, noting that the Redskins drafted Guice because he was the best player available in the 59th spot, “not because we weren’t satisfied with the backs we have.”
The contenders as the No. 1 back now start with Rob Kelley and Samaje Perine.
Kelley, with 16 starts in two seasons, missed most of last season with a variety of injuries but ran for 704 yards and six touchdowns in 2016. Perine made eight starts last season and became the first Redskins running back with consecutive 100-yard performances since Alfred Morris in 2013. Perine had 603 yards and one TD last season.
RAMS: Coach Sean McVay said the team has increased its “level of urgency” in negotiations with defensive end Aaron Donald.
Donald, a three-time first-team All-Pro, is holding out of training camp for the second consecutive year as he seeks a contract extension. His rookie contract will end after this season, but because he didn’t report by Wednesday, he will be a restricted free agent after the season instead of an unrestricted free agent. The Rams could also use the franchise tag on Donald, who is set to make $6.9 million this season.
“Let’s put it this way, there’s an increased dialogue,” McVay said Saturday. “We feel positive about the direction that these things are going. But it’s still kind of in the same boat, but I know there is a huge level of urgency from our side in terms of how important he is, wanting to be proactive about trying to find a solution, get this thing done and we’ll see if we can get that situation handled.”
JETS: Linebacker Kevin Pierre-Louis has been suspended by the NFL for the first game of the regular season without pay for violating the league’s substance abuse policy.
Pierre-Louis was arrested and charged in January with several misdemeanors, including possession of marijuana, after a traffic stop in suburban Kansas City. In March, he reached a plea deal in which the marijuana possession charge would be dropped if he completes a one-year probation.
Pierre-Louis, signed by the Jets during the offseason, can return to the active roster on Sept. 11. He is eligible to participate in all preseason practices and games, but has been sidelined by an undisclosed injury and didn’t play against Atlanta on Friday night.
The 26-year-old Pierre-Louis has 84 career tackles in parts of four seasons with Seattle and Kansas City.
CHIEFS: Kansas City will be without starting safety Daniel Sorensen for the start of the season after he had surgery to repair a broken shin bone and damage to his left knee.
Chiefs trainer Rick Burkholder described the injury Saturday as a tibial plateau fracture, which involves the upper part of the shin. Sorensen also damaged his medial collateral ligament and tore his meniscus when he was hurt during a special teams drill last week.
“One of the guys fell on his leg,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said.
The injury is similar to the one suffered by J.J. Watt last year, causing the Texans defensive end to miss the rest of the season. That may be Sorensen’s fate, too, but Burkholder said the Chiefs plan to wait six weeks before evaluating him again.