J.J. Watt will reportedly miss the rest of the season after surgery

The Houston Texans’ quest for a second consecutive AFC South title just became a whole lot harder, as defensive end J.J. Watt will reportedly miss the rest of the season due to season-ending back surgery.

J.J. Watt, who re-injured a disk on his back that he had surgery on last summer, has reportedly had another surgery that will sideline him for the remainder of the NFL season.

Watt re-injured the disk during  a 27-0 loss to the New England Patriots on Sept. 22.

Watt’s absence from the field will be a noticeable one for the Houston Texans, as the Wisconsin product has amassed 70.5 sacks in the 67 games proceeding his rookie year.

Just yesterday, Watt posted a tweet about overcoming adversity:

"I haven’t missed a game since my sophomore year of high school. This won’t be fun, but it is necessary in order for me to return to 100% and play at the level I am capable of playing at. Everybody deals with adversity in their lives, many much worse than what I’m going through. I have great people around me and I appreciate the thoughts and well wishes from all of you. I am looking forward to the fight back to the top and to the next time that I can step back on that field with my brothers and play the game that I love. You are the best fans in the world and I promise to continue to do everything in power to make you proud."

Super Bowl MVP Von Miller took to Instagram to show his support for Watt.

To help replace Watt — as if that were possible — the Texans signed Antonio Smith. Smith has appeared for the Arizona Cardinals, Houston Texans Oakland Raiders and most recently the Denver Broncos over the course of his 12-year career. He has 47 sacks in 173 career games.

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Regardless of your team allegiance, it’s never fun to see such an elite and gritty player like J.J. Watt go down. Here’s to a speedy recovery, J.J.