Hurt back may knock Watt out for season
With his back injured again, Watt’s season might be over
Texans star defensive lineman J.J. Watt, a three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, has reinjured his ailing back and could be out until December and perhaps for the entire year. It is unclear if the injury will require surgery.
Texans star defensive end J.J. Watt might be out for the season after injuring his surgically repaired back again and will be placed on injured reserve, according to NFL sources not authorized to speak publicly.
The Texans haven’t made a roster move yet involving the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year but plan to do so. The defending AFC South champions are signing veteran defensive end Antonio Smith to a one-year contract to provide depth and experience, according to sources with knowledge of the situation.
Under NFL rules, once Watt is placed on injured reserve, he is allowed to return to practice after missing six weeks and can play in a game in eight weeks. It’s regarded as a long shot, however, according to sources informed of the situation, that the Texans would risk playing Watt again after this latest setback.
Watt underwent a microdiscectomy procedure in late July to repair a herniated disk and missed the entire preseason before being moved from the physically unable to perform list to the active roster. He started and played the majority of defensive snaps in each of the Texans’ first
three games.
“J.J. wasn’t himself even before the Patriots game,” said Dr. David Chao, a former San Diego Chargers team doctor who doesn’t treat Watt. “Even against Kansas City when he put up some stats, he wasn’t himself in that game. He wasn’t all there. I don’t remember a star player being on the ground as much as he was against the Patriots. I’m not bagging on him, but it’s a question of when he injured it during that game.
“It was predictable that J.J. wouldn’t be himself and be 100 percent this early on, but I certainly didn’t predict re-injury. I just thought there would be ups and downs with him. This is season-threatening. It would be a big leap to call it career-threatening.”
Watt uncharacteristically struggled against the New England Patriots during a 27-0 loss Thursday night, recording just two tackles and no quarterback hits. He appeared to be in discomfort during the game and afterward in the locker room.
Texans coach Bill O’Brien characterized Watt’s not practicing Monday as a day off. However, he was actually hurt again.
Watt acknowledged last week prior to the Patriots game that he wasn’t fully recovered.
“It’s just a continuous process of making sure that I’m very, very smart with my body because of everything it’s been through,” Watt said. “Obviously, I hope to be at 100 percent at some point.”
Watt’s surgery was performed in late July by Dr. Mark Prasarn, a spinal surgical specialist based in Houston with Memorial-Hermann.
“When you have a herniated disk, it’s the jelly squeezed out of the doughnut that pushed against the nerve,” Chao said. “You’re just taking the jelly out of the disk when you do a microdiscectomy knowing it’s possible the jelly could squirt out again. The point of microdiscectomy is you remove the jelly, and you normally remove all the jelly.
“Of course, people will say it’s predictable and say he came back too early. The problem if you come back too early is you can be ineffective. And the re-herniation of the disk chances are low, but you can aggravate the disk. It’s a little too simplistic to jump on the Texans and say they pushed him back too soon and this is why this happened.”
Watt, who led the NFL with 17½ sacks, 29 tackles for losses and 50 quarterback hits last season, was still shedding rust since his back surgery but had a resurgent game in the second week of the regular season against the Chiefs, recording 1½ sacks and a fumble recovery.
He has played 83 consecutive games in six NFL seasons since being drafted in the first round in 2011 out of Wisconsin. But that streak of durability will end Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
“The thing that would cause this to be careerthreatening is if he was at risk of needing something more serious like a fusion, but that’s just not the norm,” Chao said. “You don’t go from needing disk surgery to needing a fusion in two months. I think it’s very unlikely this setback will end his career.
“J.J. Watt will still have a career, I believe, going forward. The question is: Will he be NFL Defensive Player of the Year-caliber J.J. Watt or just very good J.J. Watt? That’s the question that remains unanswered until there’s more medical detail on what happened.”
Smith, 34, played for the Texans from 2009 to 2013. He has 311 career tackles, 47 sacks and 11 forced fumbles and went to the Pro Bowl in 2011 as an injury replacement.
He had 2½ sacks in 16 games last season for the Broncos with no starts.