Pitre glad to be back on field after suffering bruised lung
HOUSTON — What does it feel like to have a bruised lung?
“It’s a little hard to breathe,” Jalen Pitre says. It’s “a little hard to catch your wind” when “your oxygen levels are skewed a little bit,” when you’re running and jumping and lifting, when you’re trying to practice under the Southern sun.
In other words, when you’re the starting safety for the Texans, it’s nice to have a healthy lung.
On Wednesday, Texans officials medically cleared Pitre to return to practice for the first time since the second-year defensive back took a knee to the chest from Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson just before halftime in the regular-season opener. Texans coach Demeco Ryans refused to detail Pitre’s health ahead of hosting the Steelers on Sunday. But as Pitre, who was officially limited in Wednesday’s practice, gradually increases his workload this week, he’s expected to rejoin a secondary that’s been battered by injuries.
“It’s good having Jalen back out at practice today,” Ryans said. “He brings great energy to our team whether he’s practicing, whether he’s on the sideline. Jalen’s just the epitome of what leadership looks like, right? He brings it every single day. We’re happy to have him back out there.”
Pitre spent 16 days away from football-related activities, a recovery timeline that began after he pressured Jackson into throwing a third-and-9 pass incomplete. Jackson’s raised left knee struck Pitre in the shoulder pads — “It was just like a bad place, bad timing type of thing,” Pitre said — and the safety spent a few minutes on the sideline with trainers before running to the locker room. He then was taken to a Baltimore hospital, where he was observed overnight.
“Initially when I got hurt and I felt that I couldn’t breathe a little bit, I thought it was just like a little shortness of breath,” Pitre said. “So I thought I was going to go back into the game. The scariest part, I think, was when they told me I was going to the hospital. I’m like, ‘What’s going on?’ There’s a lot of uncertainty. I think that was the hardest part.”
Pitre, 24, had never spent the night in a hospital. He hadn’t missed a game in which he was eligible since high school. He credited Brandon Kukal, the Texans’ senior assistant athletic trainer, for helping him remain at peace.
“Everything I needed, he was there for me,” Pitre said. “We just chilled. That’s one of the bros. It was a good time.”
When the Texans began practice on Sept. 13, Pitre observed warmups while sitting in a chair on the sideline of the team’s indoor facility. He walked over to watch the safeties during their individual drills. Patience and rest became part of the daily routine for a ballhawking defender who was used to regularly testing his body’s limitations on the field. He spent two games on the sideline as backup Eric Murray and Houston’s defense struggled in a home loss against the Colts, then stomped the Jaguars in a road upset Sunday.
Pitre spent last week “just waiting for the OK” from his doctors. He grew restless. His anxiousness level “was at 100.” He threw the football on the sidelines and made onehanded catches on tosses from teammates and staffers. He tried to be engaged during games in which he could have no physical impact.
“I think the biggest thing I learned and just kind of reconfirmed is that energy is contagious whether you’re playing or if you’re not playing,” Pitre said. “The biggest thing that I wanted to do was make sure my energy was right on the sideline. I didn’t want to be a Debbie Downer just because I wasn’t playing or a guy that was lackadaisical, not prepared. I was still focused like I was going into the game playing, just trying to help out my teammates as much as possible.”