Rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson suffers season- ending knee injury during Texans practice.
HOUSTON » Texans quarterback DeshaunWatson sustained a seasonending knee injury in practice Thursday, two people familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
Therookie suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in one of his knees and will go on injured reserve. Thepeople spokeonthe condition of anonymity because the team hadn’t announced the injury.
His injury is the latest blowto a team that lost three- timeNFL defensive player of the year J. J. Watt and linebacker WhitneyMercilus to season- ending injuries on Oct. 8.
The former Clemson standout had been a bright spot in a challenging season for the Texans ( 3- 4). The 12th overall pick in this year’s draftwas the AFCoffensive player of the month after throwing for 1,171 yards with 16 touchdowns and running for 145 yards and another score.
Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, talked aboutWatson’s injury, and noted that he rebounded from the same injurywhen hewaswith the Tigers.
“I talked to Deshaun late this afternoon and we are disappointed,” Swinney said. “But, he is a person who has had some setbacks in his life, and always comes back stronger. Since he went through the rehab before, he knows what it takes.”
Watson also tore his ACL in 2014 as a freshman at Clemson.
Watson’s development this season had been a revelation for a team that has featured a revolving door at quarterback.
When Houston traded up 13 picks to take Watson, many assumed he’d be the starter to open the season. But Coach Bill O’Brien insisted he back up Tom Savage.
Watson’s time as a backup was short- lived as Savage struggled in the opener and was benched at halftime. Under his guidance, the Texans had scored 30 or more points in five straight games to set a franchise record.
Watson’s 19 touchdown passes are tied for the league lead and are the most in NFL history through a player’s first seven games. He leads all quarterbacks this season with 21 touchdowns overall. Luck placed on IR. » INDIANAPOLIS AndrewLuck will spend a second offseason recovering from shoulder surgery.
The Colts put Luck on injured reserve, marking the end of his season and the beginning of a different rehab program that team officials believe will get their star quarterback on the field next fall.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard made the announcement during a surprise news conference at the team complex.
After having surgery in January for a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder, Luck missed all of Indy’s offseason workouts, all of training camp, the entire preseason and now the entire 16game regular season.
Luck didn’t even start throwing to teammates until early October andwas limited to throwing every other day. Just twoweeks later, he was “shut down” because of soreness his right shoulder.
Ballard said Luck will do his rehab at a couple of different places and is expected to be in and out of the team complex and that they will take a different approach with rehab for his strength.
Footnotes. The 49ers placed leading receiver Pierre Garcon on injured reserve for the remainder of the season with a neck injury. The team said Garcon has a nondisplaced fracture of the C5 pedicle. The typical rehabilitation time for that type of injury is eight weeks. Garcon led the team with 40 catches for 500 yards before getting hurt lastweekend in a loss at Philadelphia. … Joan Tisch, a noted philanthropist and the widow of former New York Giants co- owner Bob Tisch, died at age 90.