Bear facts: Watt and Newton will play in opener; Brown won’t
The Texans have not made it official, but you can count on defensive end J.J. Watt and right tackle Derek Newton playing in the regular-season opener against Chicago, and left tackle Duane Brown missing the Bears game.
Barring setbacks, Watt should return to practice next week and Newton this week.
Brown continues to recover from surgery to repair a torn quad tendon, and if the Texans place him on the regularseason physically unable to perform list, that means he suffered a setback at some point.
Brown is the bad news.
Watt and Newton are the good news.
Defensive end Devon Still and right tackle Kendall Lamm have filled in admirably for Watt and Newton, but we’re talking about the regular season, and the Texans need to have their regular starters in the lineup.
After his starters looked
so impressive in Sunday’s 34-24 victory over Arizona in which quarterback Brock Osweiler was outstanding in helping build a 31-10 halftime lead, coach Bill O’Brien was in such a good mood Monday he actually laughed and had a couple of good lines when discussing Watt and Newton with the media.
Asked if there is a possibility Watt will play against the Bears, O’Brien said, “Yes.”
Asked if there is a possibility Newton will play against the Bears, O’Brien said, “Yes.”
Then he was asked to elaborate on both players.
“I’m not committing to that, but I could definitely see it,” O’Brien said about Watt playing in the opener. “When I look into my crystal ball, I could see him playing the Chicago Bears. I can envision that.”
O’Brien’s crystal ball isn’t clouded. Watt is going to play.
Watt has worked hard to recover from the back surgery he underwent last month to clean out a herniated disk. We shouldn’t be surprised that his streak of never missing a game won’t be broken.
And make no mistake about it: This isn’t Watt’s decision alone. The doctors and trainers have to clear him. No way they’ll allow Watt to return if he’s just 80 or 90 percent.
“J.J. is progressing well,” O’Brien said. “He’s made a lot of improvement over the last couple of weeks. He’s really on the right track. We feel good about where he is right now.”
Watt won’t be playing in Thursday’s last preseason game against Dallas, of course, but he’ll practice when the Texans prepare for the Bears.
Watt would not have tweeted “soon” last week without knowing he would be ready to play for Chicago. His “soon” didn’t mean more H-E-B or Papa John’s commercials.
As for Newton, he’s recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered on the first day of training camp.
“Derek is doing better,” O’Brien said. “He’s made a lot of progress. I think he’ll be able to move around this week. Whether we play him against Dallas, that’s to be determined. But, I do think he can do some things out on the practice field this week.”
The Texans have no idea when Brown will be able to return. He’s doing everything he can as far as rehabilitation. He’s working hard to help his younger teammates on the offseason line.
No player is being rushed to return. There’s too much at stake this season to risk something that foolish.
Brown, playing in his ninth season, is too valuable to push. If he misses one game or six, he’ll return at his pace. Meanwhile, Chris Clark will continue to replace him.
“He’s working hard to get back (but), as far as a timetable for when he’ll be back, I’m not sure what that would be,” O’Brien said. “I can’t pinpoint right now what date that would be, but when he’s ready to play, the doctors will let us know, and the trainer will let us know.
“A lot of these guys have been out for a while. You can’t just put them right back in there to play 75 plays a game, so we’ll have to look at that from a conditioning standpoint.”
No matter who’s in or out, the Texans hope to get off to a fast start with three of their first four games at home.
Yes, it’s still preseason, but if you’re a Texans fan, based on what you’ve seen so far, you know you’re getting fired up about the season.
Again.