Watt can’t wait for season as Texans begin offseason work

HOUSTON >> J.J. Watt is more than a little antsy.

After not playing football since Sept. 22, the Houston Texans star was more excited than anyone for the start of offseason workouts Monday.

Sure, those workouts were simply conditioning and a chance to reconnect with teammates after the offseason. But after missing games for the first time in his six-year NFL career last season while recovering from back surgery, Watt relished the day.

“You’re away from the game for a year, like I’ve said many, many times before, it reaffirms how much you love it, how passionate you are about it, how badly you want to go out and play with your teammates and just enjoy the game,” Watt said. “I can’t wait.”

Watt, who was NFL Defensive Player of the Year in 2014 and ‘15, missed training camp and Houston’s four preseason games after surgery in July to repair a herniated disk. The defensive end started the team’s first three regular-season games before reinjuring his back and undergoing season-ending surgery.

Titans, Mariota being patient as QB recovers from broken leg

NASHVILLE, TENN. >> Marcus Mariota and the Tennessee Titans have yet to set an official timetable for the quarterback’s return from surgery on his right leg. The latest benchmark is reporting for the start of the offseason program.

The third-year quarterback now will finish his recovery from the season-ending injury at team headquarters after doing much of his rehabilitation at the University of Oregon this offseason.

“It’s important to be here, because together, you’re building the foundations that you’re going to use throughout the entire year,” Mariota said Monday. “You’re building the chemistry and the camaraderie that’s going to make this team successful. I’m happy to be here, and I’m excited to be here. I’m sure all the guys are.”

Mariota broke his right fibula on Christmas Eve in a loss at Jacksonville and had surgery a few days later. That started the recovery process that the Titans initially said would take up to five months. Mariota spent the first two months in a cast.

Raiders begin offseason as lame ducks in Oakland

ALAMEDA >> Three weeks after the team’s move to Las Vegas was approved by the NFL, the Raiders began preparations for the 2017 season with hopes of giving Oakland a winner before the team leaves town.

The Raiders started their offseason program Monday with more questions about what life will be like as a lame-duck in Oakland, and how they expect to be greeted in Las Vegas when they likely arrive in 2020, than about any offseason acquisitions or on-field concerns.

“It just feels weird right now,” said All-Pro pass rusher Khalil Mack, the 2016 NFL Defensive Player of the Year.

It will be like that for a while still. The Raiders will play the upcoming season at the Oakland Coliseum and have an option for a lease for 2018 that they plan to exercise as well.

With their new $1.9 billion stadium in Las Vegas not expected to open until 2020, the team might need to find a temporary home in 2019. It will spend the next few years trying to bridge the gap between a fan base that feels deserted in the East Bay and one excited for a new team in Nevada.

“That’s crazy,” quarterback Derek Carr said. “How do you keep playing somewhere you love and then you’ve got to go and have to play somewhere else that you’re going to have to love and love the people there just like we will?”