Watt feeling more like himself on field; leg a nonissue
When J.J. Watt walked off the field at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, he had lost another football game to the New England Patriots.
The game, however, renewed Watt’s faith in his surgically repaired broken leg. And Watt displayed encouraging signs in the second half of his first regular-season game since getting hurt last October.
“I think it’s nice to know that you can go out there and play 70 plays on turf,” Watt said. “You just don’t know how it’s going to hold up for a whole game. That’s about as rough of a situation as you can put it through: 70 plays, on turf field, tough battle like that. Felt fine the whole game. Never thought about it once.
“I’m very pleased with how it turned out. With the second half, I started to really begin to find my groove as a player again. … I think we just want to build off of that — knocking rust off in the first half or just getting back up to speed in a full game — but definitely started to feel more like myself in the second half.”
Watt finished the game with three tackles and hit Patriots quarterback Tom Brady twice. It wasn’t a dominant performance, but it may have been a sign of more to come from Watt.
“I’ve never lost that feeling,” Watt said. “I don’t think that I’ve ever questioned that besides maybe the first couple of months after a surgery where you really question your whole life. I’ve never questioned what I can accomplish, but like I’ve said, it always comes down to going out there and doing it and proving it.”
Hurricane Florence on Reader’s mind
Nose tackle D.J. Reader ,a native of Greensboro, N.C., is worried about his mom and other family living in the area threatened by Hurricane Florence.
“It is a little more nervewracking,” said Reader. “My mom, she’s a little head-strong. She just might wait it out at the house. Hopefully, it’s not as bad as you expect it to be.”
Several of his Texans teammate are from the Carolinas, including Jadeveon Clowney, Kendall Lamm, Bruce Ellington, Vyncint Smith, Peter Kalambayi and DeAndre Hopkins.
New corner Wright eager to get going
Accustomed to lining up on the outside, new Texans cornerback Shareece Wright was a bit out of his element with the Oakland Raiders.
Before releasing him, the Raiders utilized Wright primarily as an inside corner.
Having joined the Texans following a successful tryout, Wright is happy to be back in a familiar role on the outside where he has lined up for the majority of his career.
The Texans needed an outside presence after placing Kevin Johnson on injured reserve with a concussion.
Wright, 31, has 273 career tackles, two interceptions and two forced fumbles in his time with the Bills, Ravens, 49ers and Chargers.
“I feel like they like to play a lot of man-to-man here,” Wright said. “I’m a man-to-man, physical, press corner. I’m going to compete.”
The Detroit Lions also wanted to sign Wright, but the Texans’ pass rush was a factor in him choosing here.
Wright said he’ll be ready to go Sunday against the Tennessee Titans.
“Definitely,” he said. “Once I hit this playbook, study the terminology.
“A lot of the defense, I’ve kind of played before. Physically, I will be ready.”
Offensive tackle Sharpe signed
The Texans signed former Oakland Raiders offensive tackle David Sharpe to the practice squad.
The 6-6, 343-pounder played collegiately at Florida. He was drafted in the fourth round last year by Oakland.
The Texans tried out Sharpe on Tuesday along with several other players, including offensive tackles Chris Clark, Austin Howard, Cornelius Lucas, Christian DiLauro and Rees Odhiambo.
A former Texans starter, Clark signed with the Carolina Panthers on Wednesday.