T.J. Watt leading charge for Steelers
T.J. Watt is not trying to match his older brother sack for sack. Honest.
It’s just sort of happening that way for the secondyear Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker, whose six quarterback takedowns through the first five weeks of the season have him tied with Cincinnati defensive end Carlos Dunlap and Houston Texans star J.J. Watt — the oldest of the three Watt brothers in the NFL — for the league lead.
“I can’t get caught up in any of the statistical things,” T.J. Watt said. “I’m sure my mom thinks it’s a lot cooler than I do.”
Connie Watt’s not the only one. Steelers defensive coordinator Keith Butler is pretty impressed too, particularly with the way the 24-year-old Watt has assimilated so quickly. Then again, Butler knows Watt’s unique family dynamic played a role in his rapid adjustment to life in the NFL.
“I think he’s kind of grown up in that atmosphere,” Butler said. “He had a good idea what it took to be successful in the NFL before we got him.”
Watt racked up seven sacks as a rookie in 2017 and appears ready to take a leap forward in 2018. He opened his second season by getting three sacks in Cleveland and added three more in last week’s 41-17 dismantling of Atlanta , including a strip - sack of Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan that teammate L.J. Fort fell on in the end zone for a touchdown.
“We just wanted to show who we really were,” Watt said. “We weren’t proud of the performances we put out in the first few showings of the season, and we just wanted to go out there and show what we’ve been working on for the past few weeks. We just want to show the consistency now.”
Panthers quarterback CamNewton is ecstatic to have Greg Olsen back.
And he wants Olsen to remain on the field, so much that Newton said he asked his spiritual grandmother Hattie-Lou Newton to pray for the tight end’s continued health.
“That would be great,” Olsen said with a laugh, “I can use all of the help I can get.”
The 33-year-old Olsen practiced Thursday and is expected to return Sunday against the Redskins after missing three games with a broken foot.
Olsen was one of the most durable players in the NFL during his first 10 seasons, never missing a game due to injury. But he’s missed 12 of the last 18 since first fracturing his right foot in Week 2 last season. He re-broke the same bone in the season opener against the Cowboys and hasn’t played since.
The Chargers have used five kickers during coach Anthony Lynn’s first 21 games. If Caleb Sturgis’ quadriceps doesn’t feel a lot better soon, they’ll employ a sixth Sunday against the Browns.
Lynn doesn’t know why his team can’t find a durable, reliable foot. He’s simply looking for a solution.
“Frustrating or not, we’ve got to fix it,” he said.
The kicking saga took another twist this week when Sturgis, who won the job out of training camp, revealed his strained quad.