Houston Texans defensive end J.J. Watt will have surgery this week to repair the torn pectoral muscle that ended his season Sunday, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported Monday.
Watt, 30, faces a recovery time of approximately four months and should be ready in time for OTAs and minicamp this spring, per the report.
Watt was injured while making a tackle for a 6-yard loss on Oakland Raiders running back Josh Jacobs midway through the second quarter. He initially stayed on the field for the next play — moving his left arm in discomfort — but after the Raiders took a pre-snap penalty, he went to the sideline for attention from trainers. Soon after, he jogged to the locker room.
The three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year went to the hospital for an MRI, which apparently confirmed the diagnosis.
Watt expressed his frustration on Twitter on Sunday night after sustaining his third season-ending injury in four years.
“This game can be beautiful and it can also be brutal,” he wrote. “Absolutely gutted that I won’t be able to finish the season with my guys and give the fans what they deserve. I truly love this game and can’t stand letting you guys down. Thank you for all of the thoughts & well-wishes.”
Watt recorded three solo tackles and a batted pass in Houston’s 27-24 victory over the Raiders.
He finishes his ninth NFL season with 24 tackles, 20 quarterback hits and four sacks, leaving him four shy of 100 sacks for his career.
“I think at the end of the day when you lose a player like J.J., like I said earlier, you’re not replacing him with one person,” Texans coach Bill O’Brien said. “You’re replacing him with different things, players, scheme, whatever it might be. That’s what we are upstairs working on right now relative to that position. I feel bad for J.J. I think he’s a great attitude about it. I think everybody saw that relative to his message last night. We all know J.J. He’s going to work hard to be back. He won’t be back this year, but he’ll be back.”
Watt was limited to three games in 2016 due to a back injury and five games in 2017 with a knee injury. He returned last year to play in all 16 games, notching 16 sacks and 25 QB hits to earn his fifth first-team All-Pro nod.
